Two entomologists decided to name their newly discovered Australian beetle species Binburrum articuno, Binburrum moltres, and Binburrum zapdos, bringing the full circle of Pokémon back to what originally inspired the hit video game series.
In the world of scientific research, those who do the hard work of delivering new discoveries can also name them, and in the case of entomology at Eastern New Mexico University Professor Dr. Darren Pollock and Australian National University Ph.D. student Yun Hsiao, which meant immortalizing his latest beetle discoveries using the names of three of Pokémon’s most famous and powerful birds.
“I met a Taiwanese entomology student named Yun Hsiao about 5 or 6 years ago,” Pollock told the press at Eastern New Mexico University in an interview last week. “When he first contacted me, it was very clear that he knew his (beetle) things and was very enthusiastic about some of the same things that I did.”
During his doctoral studies, Pollock discovered a new genus of beetle that he went on to name “Binburrum. ”Recently, Hsiao discovered several different beetles of the same genus when collecting specimens for his own work. The new beetles were so distinct that the two decided to collaborate on documenting and naming them for an article published in The Canadian Entomologist.
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“Choosing a name for a new species is not trivial; it must be different from any other species described, ”said Pollock. “One way to guarantee this is to make a name that no one would have ever invented before.”
He continued:
Yun says he was an aspiring Pokémon trainer when he was young and, because of the rarity of specimens of the three new species, he suggested that we call them in honor of the three legendary bird Pokémon. Naturally, I thought it was a great idea, so the new species that were revealed to the world in 2020 are Binburrum articuno, Binburrum moltres and Binburrum zapdos – all with Hsiao and Pollock as authors. We already have plans to describe more new species of this genus that have emerged since we finished the article, perhaps with more Pokémon names.
The great irony here is that the Pokémon the series itself was inspired in part by collecting insects. Co-founder of Game Freak and Pokémon director Satoshi Tajiri it was so famous in growing insects that his colleagues nicknamed him “Mr. Error. “Inspired by his childhood love for collecting insects and then his passion for video games, Tajiri finally came up with the idea of a Game Boy game in which players could collect creatures and battle each other. Six years later, Pokémon Red and Green have been launched.
Now life is imitating art and the names of its creatures are being used to better catalog wildlife in the real world.