He has already had a research ship, a dinosaur and a flightless weevil named after him, and now Sir David Attenborough can add an ancient shrimp to the creatures given his moniker.

In honour of the esteemed broadcaster and naturalist's 90th birthday last year, researchers from the Oxford, Leicester, Yale and Imperial College London universities have given his name to a distant relative of today's shrimp and lobster.

The crustacean was identified from a 430 million-year-old imprint in volcanic ash found in Herefordshire.

The fossil is named Cascolus Ravitis - the first half derived from the Latin words equivalent to the Old English words that comprise the name "Attenborough".

"Ravitis" comes from the Roman name for Leicester, a reference to the University of Leicester where Sir David grew up while his father worked there as an administrator.

Sir David, who has made Richmond-upon-Thames his home since moving to London as a young man, has had numerous scientific discoveries named after him.

They include dinosaur Attenborosaurus Conybeari; a wildflower in the Brecon Beacons called Attenborough's hawkweed, or Hieracium Attenboroughianum; and a long-beaked echidna from the highland forests of New Guinea, Zaglossus Attenboroughi.

The polar research vessel RRS Sir David Attenborough was also named after him last year, despite a public call for it to be called Boaty McBoatface.