A tiny beetle that spent roughly 53 million years sealed inside a chunk of amber in northern France has just been given a name that would make sense to anyone who grew up in Columbus: Cnopus twentyonepilotorum. Researchers in Spain and France identified the fossil as a new species and named it in honor of the Grammy-winning duo Twenty One Pilots, who got their start in that very city.
A First-of-Its-Kind Fossil From Oise Amber
The newly described beetle is the first puppet beetle, a member of the family Aderidae, ever formally documented from the Oise amber deposits of northern France, according to the Pensoft Blog. The findings were published in the journal ZooKeys, in a study titled “First fossil species of puppet beetles (Coleoptera, Tenebrionoidea, Aderidae) from the lowermost Eocene Oise amber (France), with a review of the fossil record of Aderidae.” As The Columbus Dispatch reports, Twenty One Pilots originated in Columbus, which makes the tribute feel especially fitting for local fans tracking the band's reach.
To get a clear picture of the ancient insect locked inside the amber, the research team used synchrotron X-ray microtomography at the ALBA Synchrotron, which let them reconstruct a detailed 3D model of the beetle without having to cut into the fossil, per the same Pensoft account. The holotype specimen now resides in the palaeontological collection of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle in Paris, the blog notes.
Why Twenty One Pilots Got the Nod
According to the researchers, the species name was chosen to acknowledge the band's contribution to raising awareness of mental health and reducing the stigma surrounding anxiety, depression and personal hardship. It is a specific kind of tribute, tying a scientific first to a band whose lyrics and public advocacy have resonated with fans dealing with those exact struggles.
Beyond the naming choice, the fossil carries its own scientific weight. The discovery pushes back the known timeline for this beetle lineage in Western European forests by roughly 15 million years earlier than previously documented, the Pensoft Blog reports, suggesting these insects were already established in the region during the early Eocene epoch.
Not the First Celebrity-Inspired Species
Naming newly discovered species after musicians has become something of a trend in recent research circles. Just months earlier, scientists at the University of California, Riverside, named an entire genus of Australian plant-feeding insects Swiftiephylus, a tribute to Taylor Swift, according to UC Riverside News.
That genus contains four species: Swiftiephylus taylorae, S. amator, S. intrepidus and S. poetorum, with epithets that Latinize the words Taylor, lover, fearless and poets, respectively, the university reports. The UC Riverside team said the naming acknowledged Swift's talent, her lyrics, and the joy and comfort she brings to fans — a sentiment that echoes the spirit behind the French research team's choice to honor Twenty One Pilots.
