Blind amphibian that buries head in sand named after Trump

A newly discovered Panamanian amphibian that likes to bury itself in the sand has been named after US President Donald Trump to protest his denial of climate change.

A UK company EnviroBuild paid $25,000 for the rights to name the creature in an auction to benefit the Rainforest Trust.

It called it Dermophis donaldtrumpi.

“As Demorphus donaldtrumpi is an amphibian, it is particularly susceptible to the impacts of climate change and is therefore in danger of becoming extinct as a direct result of its namesake’s climate policies,” the company said in a statement.

They also noted the creature can only differentiate between light and dark, which they compared to Trump, who is “capable of seeing the world only in black and white.”

“The amphibians live almost entirely underground, believed to have lost their limbs at least 60 million years ago, as an adaptation to burrowing. Burrowing its head underground helps Donald Trump when avoiding scientific consensus on anthropomorphic climate change,” EnviroBuild said.

Trump has repeatedly questioned whether climate change is man-made and last month rejected a report by the US government that found that climate change is causing the US hundreds of billions of dollars in damage.

“EnviroBuild is not an overtly political organisation, but we do feel very strongly that everyone should do everything they can to leave the world in a better way than they found it,” the company said, explaining their decision to buy the naming rights.

The company also took a swipe at Trump’s appointment of his daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner to senior White House posts.

“The dermophis genus grows an extra layer of skin which their young use their teeth to peel off and eat, a behavior known as dermatrophy,” the statement said. “As a method of ensuring their children survive in life Donald Trump prefers granting them high roles in the Oval Office.”