Star Wars is one of the most successful movie franchises in the world which has given memorable dialogues, legendary characters and has garnered a huge fan following among audiences consisting of generations across the decades.
Luke Skywalker has been a widely followed character played by different actors over the years and the popularity is such that scientists impressed by the character decided to give the name to a new species of Gibbon which they discovered in south-west China.
The news of the Hoolock Gibbon named Skywalker was welcomed by Mark Hamill, an actor who has played the character previously.
So proud of this! First the Pez dispenser, then the Underoos & U.S. postage stamp... now this! #GorillaMyDreams #SimianSkywalker #JungleJedi https://t.co/JKCe5kZFmJ
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) January 11, 2017
Giddy over the Gibbon news-Gobsmacked that ANY species of animal could be named in honor of my character! I'll stop now. #MakeAMonkeyOutOfMe pic.twitter.com/pEdSVkXeMu
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) January 12, 2017
The actor’s reaction to the news of the species swinging between trees being named after the iconic character was followed by tweeple giving their own hilarious take on it.
🙊🙊🙊 pic.twitter.com/UNK5xpM8Ha
— Haminals (@HamillAnimals) January 12, 2017
@HamillHimself I guess the phrase "well I'll be a monkeys uncle" hold new meaning for you🙈
— Alejandra Nirenberg (@a_nirenberg) January 12, 2017
@HamillHimself of course, now I have King Louie in my head
— felicia ruiz😼 (@katwomanfifi) January 12, 2017
"Now I'm the king of the swingers whoa the jungle VIP" #MakeAMonkeyOutOfMe pic.twitter.com/Jw2tbu8EmB
@HamillHimself look a Skywalker in the wild. #simianskywalker #junglejedi pic.twitter.com/oTJli9nch8
— Scruffy Looking Nerd (@Scruffy_Nerd) January 11, 2017
@HamillHimself Hope he doesn't meet up with this one! #DualOfTheApes pic.twitter.com/yya81qULZq
— Hamster Hashtags (@HamsterHashtags) January 11, 2017
It's uncanny really! 🙊🙈🙉 #JungleJedi pic.twitter.com/ok6SknBzpj
— Haminals (@HamillAnimals) January 11, 2017
.@HamillHimself I can defintely see a resemblence! 😉â¤ï¸ðŸµ #MonkeyMark #CheekyChimps #ZoologicallyIncorrectHashtags pic.twitter.com/Kk4UHn6zaX
— Haminals (@HamillAnimals) January 11, 2017
The Gibbon is not the first species to be named after a popular icons, as outgoing US president has a fish, lizard and parasite named after him among other things and a spider was recently named after a hat in Harry Potter.
