Harrison Ford Is Not Too Keen On A New Species Name Inspired By Him
Could there be anything more humbling?
You know you are successful when something is named after you. Whether it is a place, another person, or a product, it shows how much people value who you are and what you do. Your name becomes associated with quality, and that must feel like the highest form of recognition.
Especially when it comes to naming a whole new species. When an animal is named after you, your name goes down in history forever, and Harrison Ford certainly knows that, because he's been the inspiration for biologists not once, but three times.
Once there was an ant, Pheidole harrisonfordi, and a spider, Calponia harrisonfordi, and now, according to the scientific journal Salamandra, there is a snake. Tachymenoides harrisonfordi is the latest species to share its name with one of the world's most famous actors.
Harrison Ford himself, as humbled as he is by this discovery, doesn't understand why he's such a good fit for naming a snake after. He shared his thoughts in a comment to The Hollywood Reporter:
“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,” actor said.
In all seriousness, however, the actor fully understands the importance of caring for and taking care of nature. In today's catastrophic environmental situation, it's doubly important to spread awareness about wildlife. The importance of naming the snake this way didn't come out of nowhere.
Being on the verge of extinction, many reptiles, including these snakes, need more publicity and attention. And if having Harrison Ford's name attached to the species can help with that, as one of the researchers involved in the snake's creation, Edgar Lehr, believes, then the actor has nothing against it.
After spending all those years in jungles surrounded by all the different species imaginable on Indiana Jones sets, he knows better than anybody how important it is to protect them.
Source: Salamandra, The Hollywood Reporter