IWU Professor discovers, names new species of snake after Harrison Ford

Posted on August 17, 2023

*The biologist said he names species after celebrities to bring awareness. (Photo courtesy WMBD-TV)*

BLOOMINGTON – A professor at Illinois Wesleyan University has discovered a new species of snake. Dr. Edgar Lehr has named the species after Harrison Ford.

He thought it would be funny since Harrison Ford’s character Indiana Jones is afraid of snakes. It also honors Ford’s work with conservation issues.

The biology professor discovered the Harrison Ford Slender Snake, Tachymenoides harrisonfordi, in May 2022 during a trip to the Otishi National Park in Peru. Lehr has been visiting and conducting research in Peru since 1997 and has collaboratively discovered 104 new species. All 92 of the amphibians are frogs and out of the 12 reptiles 3 are snakes and 9 are lizards.

During his 2022 trip, Lehr also discovered a frog and a lizard. The lizard, Proctoporus titans or Titans Spectacled Lizard, is named in honor of IWU’s titan mascot. The frog’s name has not been published yet.

The biologist said he names species after celebrities to bring awareness.

“It helps to create awareness. Not only to honor Harrison Ford for his activities but also to give awareness and attention to the new species, inviting biologists to do research to find new species and describe them so we can hopefully protect them from becoming extinct,” he said.

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year. It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city. Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University. We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk. Going to work every day for some people means…