The character of Indiana Jones is known for many things, but one of his more familiar quirks is that he’s afraid of snakes. What’s ironic is, some resarchers have decided to name a snake after Indiana Jones star Harrison Ford, and Ford has a little comment about his legacy and snakes.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, a new species of snake found in Peru’s Andes Mountains has been named Tachymenoides harrisonfordi. The snake had been discovered back in 2022, but intel about it was only published now, and Ford himself had this to say about the discovery named after himself:
“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,”
Funnily enough, this isn’t the first species to be named after the actor. There has also been an ant named after him (Pheidole harrisonfordi) and a spider (Calponia harrisonfordi).
Despite his jokes about only getting scary creatures named after him, the Star Wars icon does also go out to say:
“In all seriousness, this discovery is humbling. 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.”
We may not be seeing him reprise the role of Indiana Jones again in the future, but at least he’s found other places to immortalize himself in other fields—whether he likes it or not.
Catch Ford in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny which hits digital on Aug. 29.
