In the Star Wars universe, he is an 8ft tall, fur covered alien that co-pilots the Millennium Falcon, but on Earth Chewbacca is… a bug!
Biologists have named a new species of flightless beetle after the fictional Wookiee due to the dense fur-like scales around its head and legs.
The creature, officially named Trigonopterus Chewbacca, is a black weevil beetle discovered during an expedition to New Britain in Papua New Guinea.
Altogether they found four new species of weevils – but no… the other three were not named after iconic movie characters.
And the Chewbacca weevil isn’t the first new species to gain its name from a ‘Star Wars’ character. A South American catfish was named Peckoltia greedoi after Greedo, a bounty hunter in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. Other characters like Darth Vader and Yoda have critters named after them as well.
May the force be with you, Trigonopterus Chewbacca!
Sources: Daily Mail, USAToday