First collected in 1963 and thought to be a Little Shearwater (Puffinus assimilis) it was determined using DNA analysis to be distinct in 2011.
He has several zoological species named after him, including the Guadeloupe woodpecker (Melanerpes herminieri), the Martinique curly-tailed lizard (Leiocephalus herminieri), and Audubon's shearwater (Puffinus lherminieri).
The sediments that have yielded Pelagiarctos have also yielded numerous other species of ocean-going vertebrates, including sharks (Isurus, Sphyrna, Carcharocles), turtles (Psephophorus), seabirds (Osteodontornis, Diomedea, Puffinus), Cetaceans (Prosqualodon, Aulophyseter, Parietobalaena) and other pinnipeds (Allodesmus, Neotherium).
In the 1990s Worthy discovered several fossil bird species new to science, including the Long-billed Wren (Dendroscansor decurvirostris) in 1991, the Scarlett's Shearwater (Puffinus spelaeus) in 1991, and the Niue Night Heron (Nycticorax kalavikai) in 1995.