A Long Time Ago, In An Ocean Far, Far Away...

There was Han Solo

No, not this Han Solo

source

This Han Solo!

source

So this is something fun I stumbled upon today, figured it was worth a share.

The trilobite depicted above is a fossil named after the iconic Star Wars character.

It was found in Middle Ordovician marine strata of the Zitai Formation in southern China.

Samuel Turvey, the scientist who discovered and named the species has admitted that he chose the name Han Solo after some of his friends dared him to name a species after a Star Wars character!

Funnily, in the actual paper describing the species he gives a bogus and more "scientific" explanation behind the naming of the species:

Han is a reference to the Han Chinese, the largest ethnic group in China; and the specific epithet solo refers to the fact that the species is the youngest Diplagnostidae fossil found to that date source

Yeah right 😂

As for the actual animal, we really don't know much due to the limited fossil record, other than it is an agnostid trilobite.

Tldr, agnostic trilobites had no eyes, the head and tail look very similar and the thorax only had two segments, giving them the appearance of a peanut. A miniature peanut that is as they often were less than 1 cm long. And sometimes less than 1 mm! Much like @bitcoinman's... Ahh never mind I don't want to get sidetracked.

Reconstruction of the agnostid trilobite, Han solo, of Middle Ordovician China, via Wikipedia

There's really no much else to say so I will leave you with the links I used to write this small post:

• Wikipedia
• Agnostid trilobites from the Arenig–Llanvirn of South China
• Agnostid Trilobite Facts and Information

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