“Scientists Name New Butterfly Species After Lord of the Rings Villain Sauron”

Scientists in the United Kingdom have named a new group of butterflies after Sauron, a character from the popular film and book series The Lord of the Rings.

Saurona butterflies have orange wings with black rings. They reminded researchers at the Natural History Museum in London of the all-seeing burning eye of villain Sauron.

The Saurona butterflies were discovered by a group of thirty scientists. They studied the DNA of more than 400 different species of butterflies and discovered two Sauron-like species. They have now been baptized the Saurona triangula and the Saurona aurigera. The scientists think there are more Saurona species.

The museum hopes that the striking name of the butterflies will draw more attention to the group and therefore more research.

The Saurona butterflies are not the first animals to be named after Sauron. A dung beetle, frog and dinosaur were previously named after the villain The Lord of the Rings.