The Lord of the Rings’ Smeagol takes on a whole new horrible meaning

Scientists have decided that the Lord of the Rings' Smeagol wasn't troublesome enough and that to truly make people uncomfortable with the very mention of Smeagol, they needed to name an arachnid after it. This is how Iandumoema smeagol came to be named.

In Brazil there lives an arachnid, which isn't technically a spider – but it's damn near close, that refuses to leave its cave. Once Smeagol finds its home, the blind little fear instilling monster stays in there for life. It has a sickly pale yellow coloring, mostly due to living in its cave and not needed melanin to protect it from sunlight.

Why Smeagol? Well, apparently, if you live in a cave and look sickly pale… that's enough of a connection to name something after the movie character. No, the arachnid isn't overly obsessed with a small shiny object and no, as far as scientists know, it doesn't refer to itself in plurals. It probably doesn't even try to kill Hobbits in their sleep or trick them by feigning friendship for alterior motives.

Damn scientists, using science to make character I kind of felt bad for in a weird way become some horrid creature of my nightmares. Yes, I am afraid of spiders. Look at it.

[WashingtonPost]