José Rizal
Species named after Rizal

José Rizal was imprisoned at Fort Santiago and soon after he was banished at Dapitan where he plunged himself into studying nature. He was then able to collect a number of species of various classes: insects, butterflies, amphibians, reptiles, shells, snakes, and plants.

Rizal sent many specimens of animals, insects, and plants for identification to the (Anthropological and Ethnographical Museum of Dresden), Dresden Museum of Ethnology. It was not in his interest to receive any monetary payment; all he wanted were scientific books, magazines and surgical instruments which he needed and used in Dapitan.

During his exile, Rizal also secretly sent several specimens of flying dragons to Europe. He believed that they were a new species. The German zoologist Benno Wandolleck named them Draco rizali after Rizal. However, it has since been discovered that the species had already been described by the Belgian-British zoologist George Albert Boulenger in 1885 as Draco guentheri.

There are three animal species that Rizal personally collected specimens of and that were posthumously named after him:

There are also other species discovered afterward in the Philippines that have been explicitly dedicated to the memory of Rizal:

Apart from these, entomologist Nathan Banks applied the specific epithet rizali to a number of insect species from the Philippines (Chrysopa rizali, Ecnomus rizali, Hemerobius rizali, Hydropsyche rizali, Java rizali, Psocus rizali, etc.). Though he did not explain why, it was probably intended as a homage to Rizal as well.
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