Top 10 Animals Named After Star Wars Characters or Star-Wars-Related Things
*plays Star Wars opening track* A long time ago, in a strange, strange world of animals...Ahem, there are lots of Star Wars fans here. Heck, even some scientists are Star Wars fans too. They've even named animals they've discovered after Star Wars characters or things.
There are quite a lot of animals with Star Wars-related names. Here are some of them.
Han Solo is a species of agnathic trilobite.
It's the only member of its genus. Originally, the "Han" part was a reference to Han Chinese, which is the largest ethnic group in China, and the "Solo" part references the fact that it's the youngest Diplagnostidae fossil found to that date, suggesting it was the last surviving member of the family. However, the namer of this animal, Samuel Turvey, stated elsewhere that he named it Han Solo because his friends dared him to.
It's also frozen in rock like him... or is that someone else?
Wockia Chewbacca is a species of moth.
The scientists who discovered this moth (along with Wockia Mexicana) referred to Chewbacca as a "very large and hairy Wookie", and this large and hairy dull grey moth has similar characteristics as him.
Polemistus Yoda is a species of wasp.
Polemistus Yoda, along with Polemistus Vaderi and Polemistus Chewbacca, were named by Arnold Menke and Charles Vincent. Arnold Menke also named another two wasps Aha Ha and Pison Eu (pronounced like "Piss on you").
Adelomyrmex vaderi is a species of ant.
It was named after Darth Vader, perhaps because it towers over its kinds, like Darth Vader. It's one of the largest ants of its genus.
Tetramorium Jedi is a species of ant.
It was named after the Jedi, the main protagonists of Star Wars, because the entomologists who discovered it also discovered many other ant species at the same time, so they needed to look for names from many sources.
Darthvaderum greensladeae is a species of mite.
It's the only member of the species and is sometimes referred to as Novazelandiella greensladeae.
Peckoltia greedoi is a species of armored catfish.
It was named because of its resemblance to Greedo, a bounty hunter that appears in the first movie.
Yoda purpurata is a species of acorn worm.
It was named after its large lips which resemble Yoda's ears. The name means "purple Yoda".
Aptostichus sarlacc is a species of trapdoor spider.
Named after Sarlacc, a monster that appeared in Return of the Jedi, this name suits the animal well because trapdoor spiders lure prey into a pit-shaped web, which resembles a Sarlacc's mouth.