Game of Thrones has already earned its place in the record books, whether for setting more stunt performers on fire than any other program or for being TV’s most pirated show for six years running. And now it’s gotten a spot in entomology textbooks, after a University of Nebraska professor decided to name a trio of newly-discovered beetles after every GoT fan’s favorite scaly pets.
Brett Ratcliffe named three scarab beetles drogoni, rhaegali and viserioni, the Latinized versions of the names of Daeynery’s dragons/wyverns Drogon, Rhaergar, and Viserion. The professor told The Associated Press that he’s named hundreds of species throughout his career, said he purposely picked these latest names to maximize interest in his finds. “When you create names like these, you do it to gain a little bit of notoriety and bring public attention to it,” he said. “We’re still discovering life on Earth. One of every four living things on Earth is a beetle. We haven’t discovered them all. We’re not even close.”
If you’re hoping the spot the beetles, you might be in luck if you happen to live in Ecuador or Colombia, home of the drogoni and viserioni, or French Guiana, home of the rheagali. “I’ve often thought that scientists take themselves too seriously,” said Ratcliffe of his decision to name his discoveries after Daenerys’ flying friends, “and this is a way to circumvent that.”
