About Obama burmeisteri (Schultze, 1856) Carbayo et al., 2013
The genus Obama, to which Obama burmeisteri belongs, is defined by a leaf-shaped body. Most species in the genus reach about 10 centimeters (3.9 inches) in length, though some species can grow to over 20 centimeters (7.9 inches). Hundreds of eyes are distributed across the body, and they fall into two types: simple, circular monolobulated eyes, and trilobulated eyes with three lobes. The copulatory apparatus of Obama species has a protrusible penis that fills all or most of the male atrium. Morphologically, the genus can be split into two subgroups based on whether the penis papilla is symmetrical or asymmetrical. The asymmetrical penis papilla subgroup contains 10 species: O. anthropophilla, O. carbayoi, O. carrierei, O. decidualis, O. josefi, O. ladislavii, O. marmorata, O. nungara, O. otavioi and O. ruiva. This subgroup appears to form a monophyletic clade within the genus Obama. In contrast, the subgroup with a symmetrical penis papilla is paraphyletic, which indicates that a symmetrical penis papilla is the ancestral trait for the genus.
