In most cases, the scientist who publishes a description of a new species in a respected journal gets the honor of naming that species. Often, this description comes from the scientist that discovered the species. This may be a shock to you, but a lot of scientists are also huge nerds. We've seen an awful lot of species named after Star Wars characters and Star Trek characters, but there are almost as many that are named after the familiar faces of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
There's a species called Smaug giganteus. What kind of animal would you suspect that would be? A dragon, of course, although this one is technically a big lizard. Could you guess what kind of creature would be named Gollum attenuatus or Psylla frodobagginsi? (Hint: one of them is pictured above.) Could you imagine what kind of story went into naming Pseudophallus galadrielae? It's a fish, and that story is not nearly as dirty as you might think. Read up on 10 animal species named after Lord of the Rings characters and why the name fits them, at Mental Floss.
(Image credit: Grey Smith)