We continue to discover new butterfly species. Two of them honor The Lord of the Rings.
Middle-earth’s most evil fallen god, Sauronrevive in the name of two new species of butterflies. Are the triangular sauron and the Saurona aurigera.
Dr. Blanca Huertas, curator of butterflies at London’s Natural History Museum, is part of the international group that has discovered a new group of butterflies, said the BBC.
This group was baptized with the name Sauronain honor of Sauron, the evil adversary of Under the spell of the Ring and other books by JRR Tolkien.
Sauron’s butterflies
This new group of butterflies has long been known, but not yet catalogued.
According to the BBC, a group of 30 international experts has been cataloging butterflies for a decade. By analyzing their DNA, they have been able to distinguish different groups and species.
He Saurona group It is named so because all of these butterflies have black circles on an orange backgroundthat reminds of eye of sauron. Here you can see it:
BBC
At the moment, they have included two new species within this group: triangular sauron And Saurona aurigera. But Dr. Blanca Huertas assures that they will not be the last.
In biology it is common for the discoverer of a new animal or plant species, give it a name. With the exception of proper names and commercial names, many scientists misuse them honor characters from books, movies, or video games.
The only rule is that there must always be a relationship. In the case of these butterflies, it is the aforementioned rings, which are reminiscent of the Eye of Sauron.
We saw it a long time ago with animals with names inspired by Star Wars.
The ancient spirit of Sauron continues to spread, and without the need for the One Ring. Jokes aside, the Sauron’s butterflies They are not the only animals that bear his name. They also wear it a frog, a dung beetle and a dinosaur.