Harrison Ford’s name is used in naming of new Peruvian snake species discovered … after spider and ant species were named in his honor
Harrison Ford’s name has been used for a recently-discovered snake species in Peru’s Andes Mountains.
The Chicago-born actor, 81, inspired the naming of the snake – the Tachymenoides harrisonfordi – which is a pale yellowish-brown, measuring at 16 inches long.
‘These scientists keep naming critters after me, but it’s always the ones that terrify children … I don’t understand,’ Ford, a longtime advocate for environmental causes, said in a statement to Conservation International.
The Hollywood icon joked: ‘I spend my free time cross-stitching. I sing lullabies to my basil plants, so they won’t fear the night.’
The Oscar-nominated actor, famed for playing Indiana Jones, and Han Solo in the Star Wars films, said he was humbled by the gesture.
The latest: Harrison Ford’s name has been used for a recently-discovered snake species in Peru’s Andes Mountains. The actor, 81, was pictured in London in June
Ford’s name was previously named for the ant species Pheidole harrisonfordi; and the Californian spider Calponia harrisonfordi.
Ford noted the importance of the discovery of new species in the ‘wild world,’ and research that goes into it.
‘On this planet, all fates are intertwined, and right now, one million species are teetering on the edge of oblivion,’ Ford said. ‘We have an existential mandate to mend our broken relationship with nature and protect the places that sustain life.’
Ford, who reprised the role of Indiana Jones in this summer’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, said unlike his famed adventurer character, he is a fan of snakes.
‘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,’ the actor said.
In a statement about the newly-discovered species, Conservation International described the series of events that led to the newly-discovered species.
‘High in the Andes Mountains, a team of researchers treks through an alpine swamp,’ Conservation International said. ‘Sifting through tall grass, they search for something priceless in the far reaches of a plateau.
‘Each footstep brings the team closer to a snake, coiled in the rushes. Its scales are threaded in copper; it stares through amber eyes.’
Ford inspired the naming of the snake – the Tachymenoides harrisonfordi – which is a pale yellowish-brown, measuring at 16 inches long
Ford, who reprised the role of Indiana Jones in this summer’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, said unlike his famed adventurer character, he is a fan of snakes. Seen with Karen Allen in 1981’s Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
The organization continued: ‘If this is starting to sound like a scene from an Indiana Jones movie, hold on to your fedora, because this snake’s name is Harrison Ford. Or at least it is now.
The snake’s actual name is Tachymenoides harrisonfordi, and it is brand new to science.’
The nonprofit said it honored Ford’s ‘decades-long environmental advocacy, which includes his role as vice chairman of Conservation International.’
Ford spoke about climate change to TIME magazine in October of 2020, saying that ‘the climate crisis is real,’ and that ‘the weight of scientific evidence is overwhelming, but evidence can be ignored.’
The Air Force One star said that ‘leaders who choose to make climate change a divisive issue do it to protect the entrenched economic interests who profit from behavior that destroys our planet.
‘It’s selfish. It’s short-sighted. It needs to stop… this s*** is going to kill us.’
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