Your entries are in, and the judges have spoken! After poring over the puniest selection of taxonomy one-liners ever emailed, Facebooked, and tweeted our way, our celebrity judges selected their five favorites.

With heartfelt thanks to our readers and with the utmost appreciation for taxonomists past and present, we’ll post one winner a day leading up to Taxonomist Appreciation Day.

And now, our first 2016 pun contest winner:

 

 

Pun by Emily Dangremond, @Docta_Danger. Illustration by Buzz, @verdantrobin.

And our second winner:

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Pun and illustration by Jen Burgess (@jenburgessart), a freelance science illustrator based in Vancouver, Canada. In addition to her formal education in science and fine art, she is a trained naturalist and interpretive guide and is passionate about science communication and environmental education. In her free time, Jen can be found hiking with her dog, making soup, or sitting down to a cup of tea. Check out more of her work at jenburgessart.com and fb.com/jenburgessart.

And our third winner:

bhr_puns_16_spicerrice1

Pun by @phishdoc, illlustration by Roar, @verdanteleanor.

And our fourth winner:

bhr_puns_16_vegaPun by @brianwolven. Illo by Belinda Vega, an Austin based Illustrator strongly inspired by old cartoons and creepy stuff. The result: crazy, cute bugs!

And our fifth winner:

bhr_puns_16_hardy

Pun by Dr. Jeffrey A. Stein, @SFEL_Stein. Illustration by Christin Hardy, Buzz Hoot Roar artist in residence.

Meet our celebrity judges!

Dr. Bryan Lessard is a postdoctoral fellow and taxonomist at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. With a specialty in flies, Lessard named the famous Beyoncé fly, with its delicious golden booty. For excellent scicomm and fly world updates, follow him on Twitter @BrytheFlyGuy.

Julie Hecht is a canine behavioral researcher, science writer and PhD student at The Graduate Center, CUNY, NYC. She regularly covers canine science at Dog Spies on Scientific American, Do You Believe in Dog?, and at The Bark. Stay in touch on Facebook and Twitter @DogSpies.

Dr. David A. Steen is an assistant research professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Auburn University; he works closely with the Alabama Natural Heritage Program to study and conserve wildlife of the southeastern United States. David blogs about his work and natural history at www.LivingAlongsideWildlife.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AlongsideWild.