A newly discovered snail that lives in a remote Tasmanian forest has been named after a giant of the conservation world - Sir David Attenborough.
The colourful red and green mollusc was named Attenborougharion rubicundus by the Australian Museum in a tribute to the world-famous naturalist, who is in Sydney on a speaking tour.
It was discovered last December by two of the museum's scientists while they were working in rainforests on the Tasman and Forestier peninsulas, near Port Arthur in Tasmania's southeast.
Visiting the museum on Wednesday, Sir David there was no greater compliment that a museum could pay than by naming a creature after a natural scientist.
However, he also joked about being a bit puzzled about how to pronounce the tiny creature's rather long title.
"I'm not too sure about my own name, let alone this splendid slug," he said to a crowd of scientists, business people and museum officials gathered at the museum in his honour.
Sir David was also made the 190-year-old museum's first Lifetime Patron in recognition of his extensive work in the fields of natural science and conservation.
Chief executive Kim McKay said the museum "could think of no better person" to name the snail after than Sir David.
"Given he was visiting and he's now 90 years of age we thought it would be a wonderful tribute and one he'd greatly appreciate," she said.
The 35mm-long snail is the latest in a long line of animals and plants including a prehistoric marine reptile, the Sirdavidia flower, bugs and a long-beaked echidna to be named after Sir David.
The snail lives in just 80 square kilometres of rainforest and has been listed as a vulnerable species due to its sensitivity to changes in climate and habitat.
Sir David paid tribute to the work of the scientists at the museum, Australia's first, in chronicling the nation's plants and animals over nearly two centuries.
Describing Australia as unique in the natural world, he told of how when scientists first visited the country "they saw things that blew their minds" more so than anywhere else in the world.
"This museum's scientists took on the responsible job of chronicling and cataloguing the natural history of a continent unlike any other on this planet," he said.
"So when this museum pays me a compliment it is a huge compliment and I thank you hugely for it."
PLANTS AND ANIMALS NAMED AFTER SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH
* Attenborougharion rubicundus, a tiny red and green snail found in Tasmania
* Materpiscis attenboroughi, an armoured prehistoric fish found in the Gogo area of Western Australia
* Microleo attenboroughi, a prehistoric lion found in Queensland
* Zaglossus attenboroughi, a long-beaked echidna found in Papua New Guinea
* Attenborosaurus conybeare, a type of plesiosaur
* Electrotettix attenboroughi, a pygmy grasshopper
* Euptychia attenboroughi, a butterfly that lives in Colombia and Brazil
* Trigonopterus attenboroughii, a flightless weevil from Indonesia
* Hieracium attenboroughianum, a species of goblin spider
* Ctenocheloides attenboroughi, a species of ghost shrimp
* Hieracium attenboroughianum, a wildflower found in south Wales
* Blakea attenboroughi, a pink flower found in Ecuador
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