Illinois Wesleyan biologist names newly discovered snake species for Harrison Ford

In an ironic twist, an Illinois Wesleyan University biologist has named a new species of snake after the actor Harrison Ford. In the iconic movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark," Ford's character Indiana Jones doesn’t like snakes.

“There’s a big snake in the plane Jock!” said Jones. “Oh, that’s just my pet snake Reggie,” said Jock. “I hate snakes Jock! I hate em,” said Jones in an early scene after escaping danger in a trap-filled temple.

Jones really doesn’t like them.

“Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?” said Jones at the Well of Souls in which the Ark of the Covenant was hidden.

It was a recurring theme in several other "Indiana Jones" movies. Ford himself is quite taken with snakes.

IWU scientist Edgar Lehr discovered "Harrison Ford's Slender Snake" during an expedition to Peru in May 2022. The team included Peruvian biologists Juan C. Cusi, Maura Fernandez, and Ricardo Vera. “The snake was a big surprise as we did not expect to find a snake in a high elevational swamp,” said Lehr.

It is rare for new species of snakes to be discovered, with the closest related snake named in 1896, said Lehr.