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Every Nov. 15, the Australia Zoo in Beerwah, Queensland, celebrates Steve Irwin Day to honor the life of the host of The Crocodile Hunter. This year, there was more cause for celebration than usual. A week earlier, researchers from Pondicherry University in India announced the discovery of a new species of snake they named after the late conservationist and entertainer: Lycodon Irwini.
“His passion and dedication to wildlife education and conservation have inspired naturalists and conservationists worldwide, including the authors of the paper,” the researchers wrote in a study published in Evolutionary Systematics.
Read more: “Snakes Break All the Rules”
Discovered in the Nicobar Islands, a tiny archipelago dotting the boundary between the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, L. irwini is a type of wolf snake, a genus common in Southeast Asia. Researchers described the snake, found in a poorly studied area that is rich in biodiversity, as “glossy black” in appearance with a cream-color ridge running along the sides of its belly. Like other wolf snakes, L. irwini is nonvenomous and likely feeds on small reptiles, mammals, and amphibians.
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It’s not the first animal species to be named after Irwin. The humorously named Crikey steveirwini, a small, air-breathing snail, and Elseya irwini, a rare freshwater turtle, also bear his name. While much is still unknown about L. irwini, the study authors suggest it’s endangered. So as always, anyone who encounters the reptile should follow Irwin’s number one rule: Don’t muck with it.
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Lead image: Naveen, R.S., et al. Evolutionary Systematics (2025).
