A deadly combination
El Reg and boffins!
Boffins have discovered a strange new type of spongy mushroom in the island rainforests of Borneo and decided to name it Spongiforma squarepantsii in homage to the well-known American cartoon featuring a talking sponge who lives under the sea. S squarepantsii was found by Professor Dennis Desjardin last year, and is a novel …
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sponge
It turns out that spongy, springy marine organisms had a huge precedent in marine biology prior to the cartoon — and most people would recognise that the cartoon is in fact based on said organisms.
There have been various initiatives for school children to establish the formal names for new species — and knowing this you might think these people were trying to emulate a child's eye view of the world — but they are usually far more imaginative.
TMNsis turtlii - a green fungus that is harder on one side than another - favoured by rats.
Polyporous loganii - a blue and yellow fungus that has hidden barbs which stick out when squeezed
Did they eat an earlier discovery before watching Cartoon Network? Just wait for a bunch of Ben10 mushrooms soon.