Harrison Ford’s character Indiana Jones was famously afraid of snakes, but the actor himself doesn’t mind them. In a recent discovery, a new snake species was found in Peru’s Otishi National Park and named after Mr. Ford to honor his charitable work.
The discovery and naming of the snake were published in Salamandra, a German journal of herpetology. The authors of the study included Peruvian scholars and American researchers from Illinois Wesleyan University and Florida International University.
The newly discovered snake, called Tachymenoides harrisonfordi, is dark brown and tan in color and can reach up to 16 inches in length. It primarily feeds on lizards and frogs and is considered harmless to humans. Its informal name is Harrison Ford’s snake, keeping with the Indiana Jones theme.
While the name might remind us of Mr. Ford’s famous line, “Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?” from the movie “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” the scientists clarified that he was honored for his philanthropic efforts with Conservation International.
“We dedicate this species to Harrison Ford, actor and conservationist, in recognition of his work for Conservation International and his voice for nature,” the study’s etymology section states.
Despite Indiana Jones’ fear of snakes, Harrison Ford himself stated that he has no problem with them. In a statement released by Conservation International, he said, “The snake’s got eyes you can drown in, and he spends most of the day sunning himself by a pool of dirty water — we probably would’ve been friends in the early ’60s. 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.”
This is not the first time a new species has been named after Harrison Ford. In 1993, a California spider received his name, and in 2003, an ant species was also named in his honor.
