A special day today is, yes. May 4th is Star Wars Day! As discussed in a previous post, sometimes pop culture and science blend together, and Star Wars is no exception! Invertebrate zoologists have taken their love for the epic saga and applied it to their own work. And vice versa, the movies themselves almost certainly drew inspiration from a wide diversity of organisms.
A long time ago, in an ocean far, far away… lived Han solo. Han solo was a trilobite in the family Diplagnostidae, which was found in the Zitai Formation (containing fossils from the Ordovician period, 486 to 444 million years ago) in Hunan, China. It is in the arthropod order Agnostida, characterized by a lack of eyes and the fact that their anterior and posterior ends (the cephalon and pygidium, respectively) resemble each other.
Han Solo (credit: Wikipedia).
In 2004, Samuel T. Turvey named the species “Han” after the Han people of China and “solo” because it seemed to be the youngest fossil in its family, and therefore its last survivor [1]. But there are rumors of Turvey being pressured by colleagues to give the species a Star Wars character’s name. And what better character to represent an organism that was preserved as a fossil than Han Solo, who himself was frozen in carbonite in Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.
“Your eyes can deceive you; don’t trust them”. Enteropneusts, or acorn worms, took Obi-Wan Kenobi’s advice literally—they have no eyes! In a study involving IZ researcher Karen J. Osborn, three new species of acorn worms in the family Torquaratoridae were observed crawling along the deep-sea floor from a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) in the North Atlantic. One of these species, Yoda purpurata, was placed in the genus “Yoda” given its possession of a pair of long lateral lips that resemble Jedi Master Yoda’s ears. Interestingly, individuals of this species also have both testes and ovaries, making this species the first hermaphrodite recorded in the phylum Hemichordata[2]! It’s like real-life sci-fi (aka . . . Science)!
But is that the only species honoring the legendary Jedi Master? “…No. There is another.” This species has stepped over to the Dark Side, as it benefits at the expense of other organisms. First discovered as a parasite on a mole crab (Albunea groeningi), Albunione yoda is an isopod in the family Bopyridae, which includes other ectoparasitic species. The etymology of A. yoda is stated to draw inspiration from Yoda’s large ears, given that the holotype female had long, curved projections extending from her head [3]. The specimen was only 8.6 millimeters long, but as a highly-regarded Jedi Master once said: “Size matters not.”
“It’s a trap!” -- recognize this phrase? The character who says it, Admiral Gial Ackbar, has a distinct air of “invertebrate”-ness. According to Wookieepedia, the Star Wars Wiki, Ackbar is of the Mon Calamari species, which are so named because of their squid-like heads (“calamari” is Italian for squid) [4]. Yet they are not simply cephalopods, as they also have characteristics of fish, amphibians, and humans, as well.
What’s a Jedi, you may ask? Why, the Jellyfish Database Initiative, of course! Or JeDI, for short. This database was created with the goal of monitoring jellyfish populations over time in order to analyze distribution patterns and population growth around the world [5]. As Yoda puts it: “A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack”, and the Jellyfish Database Initiative is definitely striving for knowledge! And this knowledge can be used for defending (and managing) our marine resources.
To all the Star Wars fans out there, May the Fourth Be With You! And think of these great invertebrates as you “invert” your phrases to sound like Yoda on this otherworldly holiday!
By: Maria Robles Gonzalez; edited by Rachel Alsheikh
Sources:
[1] Turvey, S. T. 2004. Agnostid trilobites from the Arenig-Llanvirn of South China. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences 95(3-4): 527-542.
[2] Priede, I. G., et al. 2012. Observations on torquaratorid acorn worms (Hemichordata, Enteropneusta) from the North Atlantic with descriptions of a new genus and three new species. Invertebrate Biology 131(3): 244-257.
[3] Markham, J.C. and C. B. Boyko. 2003. A New Species of Albunione Markham & Boyko, 1999 (Crustacea: Isopoda: Bopyridae: Pseudioninae) from Taiwan. American Museum Novitates, no. 3410: 1-7.
[4] Mon Calamari. Wookieepedia: The Star Wars Wiki.
[5] University of Southampton. “Marine scientists create world’s first global jellyfish database.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 15 May 2014.
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Amazing!!! Your articles are very interesting and SO FUN TO READ!!!!
Posted by: Deborah Gonzalez | 04 May 2015 at 10:39 PM
Amazed am I.
Great paper about real and fiction life ... Sometimes very difficult to be separated .
May the F be with you... Your choice
Posted by: Giuseppe Ruopolo | 04 May 2015 at 08:17 PM
It is great to learn about Science in fun ways, just as you just did here. Well done!
I have heard about the influence of the Star Wars saga in the business world, where projects or products have been named after its characters. It's clearly a sign of our times.
Posted by: Miguel | 04 May 2015 at 03:33 PM