A new genus of butterfly has been discovered and scientists have cleverly named it after Sauron, the villain of J.R.R Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Two groups of these new butterflies were recently found and The Natural History Museum of London has announced that it will be named “Saurona”, named after the Eye of Sauron.
The reason behind the name Saurona has to do with the eye-catching spots and orange colours on the butterflies, which resemble the Eye of Sauron from The Lord of the Rings. It doesn’t exactly look like Sauron’s flaming eye but it’s close enough, I guess.
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Dr. Bianca Huertas, the senior curator of butterflies at the museum, said that the fun name was given to potentially draw more attention to Earth studies. “It shows that, even among a group of very similar-looking species, you can find beauty among the dullness,” said Huertas. Have a look at the butterfly below:
The Eye of Sauron was popularised through Tolkien’s legendary Lord of the Rings fantasy novels, though it only appeared in the books as a symbol of Sauron’s influence and watchful eye over Middle-earth. Sauron himself actually took a physical form in the books, albeit a weakened one. In the more popular Peter Jackson movie trilogy, Sauron’s physical presence was removed in place of a literal giant flaming eye sitting atop Barad-dur, Sauron’s fortress in Mordor, that was a manifestation of the dark lord.
The butterflies aren’t the first species to be named after Sauron, though, as there exists a dinosaur named Sauroniops and a frog called Nyctimystes sauroni, which both got their titles from The Lord of the Rings‘ antagonist too. If you ask me, more newly discovered species should be named after Samwise Gamgee instead.
In related news, Warner Bros has announced that new Lord of the Rings movies are currently in the works at the studio, though it’s unknown what period of Middle-earth they will cover.
Source: Natural History Museum
