Perhaps unsurprisingly, there are quite a few Star Wars fans among biologists. These ones have used their opportunity to name a new species to make reference to their beloved franchise.

By Leoma Williams

Published: Wednesday, 08 November 2023 at 10:07 AM


The opportunity to name a new species is a rare honour and one that is arguably taken more seriously by some than others… Whilst many newly discovered species are given humdrum descriptive names, relating to some physical aspect of the organism, others may be named after a favourite celebrity or even a foodstuff – or a favourite television programme.

Some scientists also seem to take naming as an opportunity to nerd-out over their favourite sci-fi franchise. There are quite an extraordinary number of animal and plant species that are named after Star Wars characters and elements. So much so that there is a dedicated Wikipedia page! Here are 10 of our favourite Star Wars named animals.

10 animals named after Star Wars characters

Wockia chewbacca

Chewbacca © ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP via Getty Images
Adult Wockia chewbacca, holotype. Public Domain

This is perhaps one of those occasions where the name of an animal is more exciting than the animal itself. These moths, found in Mexico, are small and of a dull grey-brown colour. They do have some small resemblance to their namesake, however – the ‘hair’ on its wings. According to the paper describing the species “The species epithet, Chewbacca, is named after the very large and hairy Wookiee character in the Star Wars movie series”. Does this moth remind you at all of Chewie?

Learn about another unusually named hairy moth – the Donald Trump moth

Urubaxia chewie

Chewie is beloved enough to have not just one, but four species of insect named after him! Another of these is this species of true bug from Brazil. According to the authors, they named it this because of its big size and robustness compared to other Urubaxia species.

Skywalker gibbon (Hoolock tianxing)

Luke Skywalker was played by Mark Hamill. © Rich Fury/Getty Images
A Skywalker gibbon walks across a rope ladder. © Ger Bosma/Getty

One of the few non-insects on this list, the Skywalker gibbon is rare in being a newly described primate. It is also rare in that it is, unfortunately, critically endangered. Only first described as a distinct species in 2017, there are as few as 150 individuals left in the wild. Its species name is tianxing, which translates to ‘heavenly movement’ in Chinese and reflects its graceful swinging through the trees. For its English common name, the scientists who named it were Star Wars fans and felt ‘sky walker’ accurately described the movement.