You won't see this Yoda in film: It's a worm

Discovered a new type of acorn worm, scientists have. Named it after Yoda, they did.

The reddish-purple worm was found about 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometers) beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean, and has large lips on either side of its head region that reminded researchers of the floppy-eared Stars Wars character. Its full scientific name is Yoda purpurata, or "purple Yoda."

Researchers found the worm during the ECOMAR research program, which uses a remotely operated submersible to search for new animals along the seafloor at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between Iceland and the Azores.

During the expedition, researchers from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland also found two other new species of acorn worm. The animals are described in a study published in the September issue of the journal Invertebrate Biology.

Shallow water acorn worms live in burrows and are rarely seen, whereas deep sea species live on the seafloor, leaving spiral traces of poo that resemble crop circles. These traces have been seen in fossil form, but until recently, nobody knew what produced them.

1. Science news from NBCNews.com

   1. Millions invested in quantum weirdness

      Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: Researchers are trying to harness the weird properties of the quantum world, backed by millions of dollars from investors and government agencies.

   2. When humans broke off Neanderthal sex
   3. Scientists track how a rat changes its mind
   4. Vegetarian dinosaurs were champion chewers

Scientists are interested in these deep sea species because they are close to the evolutionary link between vertebrates and invertebrates.

In other words, the force is strong with them.

But Yoda purpurata is hardly the only species to be named after a famous character, fictional or not. Recent examples include a horse fly named for Beyonc?, an isopod (this group includes pill bugs) near Zanzibar (an island of Tanzania in East Africa) named after Freddie Mercury ("arguably Zanzibar's most famous popular musician and singer") and slime mold beetles named after George Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld.

Reach Douglas Main at dmain@techmedianetwork.com. Follow him on Twitter @Douglas_Main. Follow OurAmazingPlanet on Twitter @OAPlanet. We're also on Facebook? and Google+.

? 2012 OurAmazingPlanet. All rights reserved. More from OurAmazingPlanet.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49304821/ns/technology_and_science-science/

2012 oscars the shore meryl streep oscar wins sasha baron cohen oscars oscar winners the artist sacha baron cohen oscars