Remember when Pokémon‘s names were inspired by animals? When a professor and student found a new species of beetles in Australia, they decided to switch it up.
Dr. Darren Pollock and Yun Hsiao were documenting their findings of three new beetles for an upcoming third edition of “Australian Beetles”. The Ph.D. Student Yun Hsiao, being a big fan of Pokémon, had proposed to name these beetles the Pokémon Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. It wasn’t just a blind suggestion though, there was a reason behind him naming him after the Legendary birds.
In the science world, it was important to choose an unused name for new specimens to be able to differentiate them from others. These beetles were also pretty hard to find, similar to the three Legendary bird Pokémon. Moreover, the trio of beetles are as different from each other as the Legendary birds.
Meet the beetles! On the far left, we have now called Binburrrum articuno, with its long silver brown wings. In the middle, we have Binburrum moltres with a striking gold top and brown bottom. On the far right, that would be Binburrum zapdos with a honey brown thorax and dark brown wings.
Dr. Pollock mentioned that he found some more beetles of the same genus after the paper was published. This means more Pokémon-inspired beetles for us! We wonder what Yun Hsiao will name the beetles next.
Pokémon took the honor of being named after the new beetles quite seriously, presenting the study in Pokémon‘s 25th Anniversary year. Pokémon has been releasing quite a number of games and collectibles, like an open-world RPG and a Charizard card rug! Check it out!
Yvette loves anime especially haikyuu and naruto. Would gladly spend her life savings on sneakers and can’t stop watching Greys Anatomy.
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