New spider named after Harry Potter’s Sorting Hat

A team of biologists, and apparent Harry Potter fans, recently named an oddly-shaped spider Eriovixia gryffindori, after the magical sorting hat in J.K. Rowling’s most famous book series.

The scientists said they were inspired by the spider’s hat-like body, which has a wide base that tapers to a bent peak above the spider’s back. The team said the spider’s body shape most likely evolved because it resembles a dried-up leaf, not a fictional wizard’s headgear.

“This uniquely shaped spider derives its name from the fabulous, sentient magical artifact, the sorting hat, owned by the (fictitious) medieval wizard Godric Gryffindor, one of the four founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and stemming from the powerful imagination of Ms. J.K. Rowling, wordsmith extraordinaire, as presented in her beloved series of books, featuring everyone’s favorite boy-wizard, Harry Potter,” the researcher explained in their report.

Unique Spider Found in India

The spider was discovered in a small hallowed grove in India’s Shivamogga district, located in the southwestern state of Karnataka. For generations, locals had essentially preserved a de facto “biodiversity hotspot” by delicately tending to this sacred grove.

The scientists said they discovered the female spider about 4 feet off the ground in a shrub. It measures just .3 inches long, is grayish-brown and sparkled with dark brown spots. An irregular dark line stretches up the side of its hat-shaped – body, separating a dark back area from a paler bottom, further putting an emphasis on the spider’s resemblance to the vegetation where it hides. Small hairs give the spider a bit of fur, with in hues of white and light yellow, the team describing the spider wrote in their report.

After the researchers caught the hat-like spider, then analyzed and dissected it, they told The Washington Post it became “abundantly clear” they had found a new species, which meant the team could name the spider based on established conventions.

In their report, the researchers said their fanciful choice is partly “an effort to draw attention to the fascinating, but oft overlooked world of invertebrates, and their secret lives,” saying E. gryffindori is “an ode from the authors, for magic lost, and found.”

.@curiocritters I’m truly honoured! Congratulations on discovering another #FantasticBeast! ✨ pic.twitter.com/NJ4Fe27F1r

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 11, 2016

On Twitter, the Harry Potter author noted her approval.

“I’m truly honoured!” she wrote. “Congratulations on discovering another #FantasticBeast!”

—–

Image credit: Javed Ahmed

The post New spider named after Harry Potter’s Sorting Hat appeared first on Redorbit.

redOrbit.com
offers Science, Space, Technology, Health news, videos, images and reference information. For the latest science news, space news, technology news, health news visit redOrbit.com frequently. Learn something new every day.”