We show signs of respect in many ways, and naming things after people is one of the biggies. Streets, mountains, newly discovered critters that a team of scientists had to trek through cartel country in Peru to find—these are all things that can be vectors of respect for the living or the dead. Harrison Ford, one of our most renowned actors, has received the latter treatment. He is the proud new namesake of the Tachymenoides harrisonfordi, a snake.
Ford, who is the vice chairman of Conservation International, an organization that supports and safeguard oceans, forests, and endangered species, has had this snake named after him, after previously lending his name to an ant (Pheidole harrisonfordi) and a spider (Calponia harrisonfordi). They spotted the thing sunning itself in Otishi National Park in May of last year, according to Conservation International.
“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 in a statement. (The authors of those Clickhole “They Said What?!” columns are seething right now, wishing they could come up with something this good.)
“In all seriousness, this discovery is humbling,” Ford continued. “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.”
Reptiles are a priority for the organization because “most people likely don’t find snakes as cute as a fluffy panda cub,” according to Neil Cox, manager of the Conservation International–IUCN Biodiversity Assessment Unit and coauthor of the 2022 Global Reptile Assessment. He added in a statement that discovering Indy’s snake “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.”
And hopefully giving over his name will go far to help rehabilitate the snake’s image after the massive hit it took in the ’80s.
Kenzie Bryant
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