Posted on Aug 16, 2023
Illinois Wesleyan biologist names newly discovered snake species for Harrison Ford
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In an ironic twist, an Illinois Wesleyan University biologist has named a new species of snake after the actor Harrison Ford. In the iconic movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark," Ford's character Indiana Jones doesn’t like snakes.
“There’s a big snake in the plane Jock!” said Jones. “Oh, that’s just my pet snake Reggie,” said Jock. “I hate snakes Jock! I hate em,” said Jones in an early scene after escaping danger in a trap-filled temple.
Jones really doesn’t like them.
“Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?” said Jones at the Well of Souls in which the Ark of the Covenant was hidden.
It was a recurring theme in several other "Indiana Jones" movies. Ford himself is quite taken with snakes.
IWU scientist Edgar Lehr discovered "Harrison Ford's Slender Snake" during an expedition to Peru in May 2022. The team included Peruvian biologists Juan C. Cusi, Maura Fernandez, and Ricardo Vera. “The snake was a big surprise as we did not expect to find a snake in a high elevational swamp,” said Lehr.
It is rare for new species of snakes to be discovered, with the closest related snake named in 1896, said Lehr.
“There’s a big snake in the plane Jock!” said Jones. “Oh, that’s just my pet snake Reggie,” said Jock. “I hate snakes Jock! I hate em,” said Jones in an early scene after escaping danger in a trap-filled temple.
Jones really doesn’t like them.
“Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?” said Jones at the Well of Souls in which the Ark of the Covenant was hidden.
It was a recurring theme in several other "Indiana Jones" movies. Ford himself is quite taken with snakes.
IWU scientist Edgar Lehr discovered "Harrison Ford's Slender Snake" during an expedition to Peru in May 2022. The team included Peruvian biologists Juan C. Cusi, Maura Fernandez, and Ricardo Vera. “The snake was a big surprise as we did not expect to find a snake in a high elevational swamp,” said Lehr.
It is rare for new species of snakes to be discovered, with the closest related snake named in 1896, said Lehr.
Illinois Wesleyan biologist names newly discovered snake species for Harrison Ford
Posted from nprillinois.org
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Posted 9 mo ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel well deserved...
...""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,” said Ford.
The name was announced in a publication of the journal Salamandra on Tuesday.
“I was surely influenced by the commercial of the new 'Indiana Jones' movie and the fear of snakes of Indiana Jones. Knowing that Mr. Harrison Ford is an active conservationist who actually likes snakes, his voice for nature and his service as vice chair of Conservation International led to the idea of dedicating this species to him,” said Lehr. Since Lehr began research in Peru in 1997, he has helped discover more than 100 species of reptiles and amphibians. Only three have been snakes.
Lehr told Conservation International he and the other scientists had to cut their expedition short when they found a drone observing them at their camp in the remote area known as Peru’s Cocaine Valley."
...""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,” said Ford.
The name was announced in a publication of the journal Salamandra on Tuesday.
“I was surely influenced by the commercial of the new 'Indiana Jones' movie and the fear of snakes of Indiana Jones. Knowing that Mr. Harrison Ford is an active conservationist who actually likes snakes, his voice for nature and his service as vice chair of Conservation International led to the idea of dedicating this species to him,” said Lehr. Since Lehr began research in Peru in 1997, he has helped discover more than 100 species of reptiles and amphibians. Only three have been snakes.
Lehr told Conservation International he and the other scientists had to cut their expedition short when they found a drone observing them at their camp in the remote area known as Peru’s Cocaine Valley."
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