Thanks to a line of dialogue from Indiana Jones in Steven Spielberg’s 1981 blockbuster Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Harrison Ford has long been linked to snakes. The association has now been formalized in real life.
Researchers have discovered a new species of snake in Peru’s Andes mountains and named the variety after Ford. The species is called Tachymenoides harrisonfordi, and is described as a type of slender snake that measures 16 inches long. The snake is pale yellowish-brown with scattered black blotches, a black belly and a vertical streak over his copper-colored eye, making it well-camouflaged to the surrounding environment. The discovery, a joint collaboration between researchers from Peru and the United States, turned up only one male snake in May 2022 while it was sunbathing in a swamp in Otishi National Park.
Courtesy of Edgar Lehr/Conservation International
Intel on the species and its new name were published today in Salamandra, a scientific journal. Per researchers, they named the snake after 81-year-old Ford to honor his decades-long environmental advocacy, evidenced by his role as vice chair of Conservation International, an organization that disseminated the news, among other eco-conscious work.
“These scientists keep naming critters after me, but it’s always the ones that terrify children. I don’t understand. I spend my free time cross-stitching. I sing lullabies to my basil plants, so they won’t fear the night,” said Ford, who also inspired the name of an ant (Pheidole harrisonfordi) and a spider (Calponia harrisonfordi). “In all seriousness, this discovery is humbling. It’s a reminder that there’s still so much to learn about our wild world — and that humans are one small part of an impossibly vast biosphere. On this planet, all fates are intertwined, and right now, one million species are teetering on the edge of oblivion. We have an existential mandate to mend our broken relationship with nature and protect the places that sustain life.”
Last year, Conservation International experts published a study that found one-fifth of the world’s reptiles are threatened with extinction. “Too often, reptile conservation can be overlooked — most people likely don’t find snakes as cute as a fluffy panda cub, but their role in the world’s ecosystems is just as important,” explained Neil Cox, manager of the Conservation International-IUCN biodiversity assessment unit, who authored the 2022 Global Reptile Assessment. “This discovery helps us better understand how snake species exist and survive in the world, and I hope that its fun name will help draw attention to the threat of extinction facing reptiles globally.”
One of the researchers, Edgar Lehr, a professor of biology at Illinois Wesleyan University, said the team is “honored” that Ford accepted the snake’s new name. “For a biologist, describing a new species and making it public with its new name is one of the most vital activities during the biodiversity crisis,” said Lehr. “We hope the new snake will create awareness about the importance of biological fieldwork that intends to discover the unknown — often an adventurous and expensive process requiring more financial support from funding agencies. Only organisms that are known can be protected.”
About that line of dialogue: Ford famously exclaimed, “Snakes. Why’d it have to be snakes?” during a particularly hair-raising scene in the Lawrence Kasdan-penned script (from a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman) that featured the archaeologist in the Well of Souls surrounded by thousands of slithering reptiles. See a behind-the-scenes clip below.
Tuesday, July 15, 11:20 a.m.: Updated to include the correct release date for Raiders of the Lost Ark.
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