Of all the creatures to name after Harrison Ford, his alter ego Indiana Jones may well cringe as a new species of snake has been discovered in Peru and the man himself – an ardent advocate for the natural world – is equal parts honoured and horrified that while there’s species of ants, spiders and now snakes named after him, there’s nothing that you’d find in a petting zoo.
Harrison Ford Inspires Name for New Species of Snake Found in Peru’s Andes Mountains: “This Discovery Is Humbling” https://t.co/4jZUG0S3UD
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) August 15, 2023
“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.”
Speaking of snakes, you can listen to our onstage interview with Raiders of the Lost Ark pilot Jock Lyndsay himself Fred Sorenson on Making Tracks.
