Pokemon and Taxonomy: How Pokémon Inspired Scientists

In this episode, scientists Arjun Mann and Spencer Mockden reflect on how growing up with Pokemon shaped their fascination with classification, fossils, and insects, and how this pop culture phenomenon continues to inform scientific thinking and museum exhibitions.

• Pokemon as a gateway to taxonomy: practical parallels between Pokemon classification and Linnaean taxonomy.
• Real-life biology inspiring fictional creatures and vice versa, including names of fossils and insects after Pokemon characters.
• A Field Museum exhibition linking Pokemon fossils to their real-world inspirations, adapting content for North American audiences.
• Personal journeys in science: impostor syndrome, naming new species after Pokemon characters, and the broader impact on science careers.

Estimated transcript length: about 1,700–1,900 words.

Overview and Context

The Science Quickly episode opens by anchoring the year 1998 in popular culture, noting Brandi and Monica's music, the film There's Something About Mary, and the debut of a Pokemon series in the U.S. The hosts pivot to a deeper topic: Pokemon as a gateway to scientific understanding. The episode features two scientists who were Pokemon fans as children: Arjun Mann, the assistant curator of fossil fishes and early tetrapods at the Field Museum, and Spencer Mockden, an entomologist at the University of Guelph. Both credit their later scientific careers in part to their past Pokemon fascination, illustrating a bidirectional relationship between science and Pokemon: Pokemon fuels curiosity about biology, while real biology informs how Pokemon is discussed and designed.

Pokemon as a Gateway to Taxonomy

The first core idea is that Pokemon’s classification system resembles Linnaean taxonomy and other scientific categorization forms. Arjun describes how he learned to classify Pokemon before he fully understood the natural world, hinting at how early engagement with a structured system can seed scientific thinking. Spencer adds that his early experiences with the games and the show—paired with fossil-focused Pokemon like fossil Pokemon—helped shape his fascination with discovery and classification. The conversation highlights that the game's simple, nested structure—types like grass, bug, normal, electric, and the ability to combine multiple types—offers a digestible mirror of how scientists organize living things into nested groups and hierarchies. This parallel makes Pokemon an effective scaffold for beginners to think about biodiversity and organization, even if the biological realities differ from the game's rules.

We also get concrete examples of Pokemon names that are drawn from real-world organisms and fossils, and vice versa. The Field Museum notes the cross-pollination: fossils and real-life animals inspire Pokemon names, and Pokemon-inspired names crop up in fossil and insect taxa. The discussion underscores a broader cultural phenomenon: the public’s interest in taxonomy is often sparked by pop culture, creating a feedback loop that benefits science communication and museum outreach.

Exhibition as a Bridge Between Worlds

The Field Museum’s May exhibit—opening around Labor Day in 2027—translates the Pokemon phenomenon into a scientific context. It features an exhibit focused on the fossil bases of Pokemon and compares them with real-world fossils. Aiba Daisuke, a Japanese paleontologist who studies ammonites and invertebrates, conceived the concept of comparing fossil Pokemon to their fossil influences. The exhibit’s adaptation for North American audiences, including the addition of North American fossils, makes the content more locally relevant. Mann remarks that the exhibition is the brainchild of a researcher who fused interest in Pokemon with paleontology to illustrate how science and pop culture inform one another. This section demonstrates a concrete, public-facing example of how natural history can be leveraged to engage diverse audiences and make taxonomy memorable for visitors.

In addition to its educational value, the exhibition embodies a methodology for science communication: show how the natural world inspires pop culture and how pop culture can illuminate real science. The exhibition’s content—local fossils, fossil Pokemon, and their real-world equivalents—bridges the gap between the abstract systems used by scientists and the playful, immersive world of Pokemon that many fans first encounter as children. The result is a powerful, engaging way to teach taxonomy, paleontology, and natural history to a broad audience, including families and students who may not seek science through traditional channels.

Personal Journeys: Imposter Syndrome and Naming Species

The episode delves into the personal narratives behind scientific careers. Spencer shares an experience common to many graduate students: imposter syndrome. He describes a turning point when the realization that he could name a species after a Pokemon character—Charizard—validated his identity as a biologist. He notes how he used this opportunity to tell a story about his inspiration and to anchor his professional self-image in a shared narrative with Pokemon fans. He speaks to a broader sentiment: the idea that a beloved game or hobby can evolve into a meaningful, sustained scientific identity even as one advances through fieldwork and taxonomy. This portion underscores the value of narrative in science—the way personal stories can anchor public interest and personal resilience in rigorous work.

Another personal thread concerns the naming of fossil and insect species after Pokemon characters. Mann mentions the phenomenon that scientists in natural history have named organisms after Pokemon characters, connecting the classification exercise to a sense of creativity and play that can coexist with rigorous taxonomy. The segment also addresses how such naming practices, far from trivializing science, can humanize and democratize it by inviting public enthusiasm and curiosity into the scientific process. The two guests emphasize that the natural world—much more than a game or a movie—remains the ultimate source of inspiration for scientists and for science communication.

Cross-Pollination of Science and Pop Culture

The conversation broadens to the idea that science fiction, film, and fantasy—ranging from Expanse to Avatar and Star Wars—draw heavily on natural history for creature design, movement, and ecological logic. The interviewees stress that pop culture’s depictions are not merely fanciful; they reflect internally consistent biology, sometimes drawing from actual entomology, paleontology, and ecology. The Expanse is highlighted as an example where genetics, natural history, and physics are woven together to create plausible science fiction realities. This cross-pollination underscores the two-way street between science and culture: pop culture can popularize science and science can enrich storytelling. The speakers argue for continuing funding and support for natural history—both to fuel public imagination and to ground imaginative works in real-world biology and taxonomy.

In conclusion, the episode frames Pokemon as more than a childhood detour; it is a durable conduit that can nurture curiosity, teach classification frameworks, and inspire future scientists. The dialogue with Mann and Mockden showcases how personal passion, museum-based outreach, and cross-disciplinary storytelling can foster a lifelong engagement with biology, biodiversity, and taxonomy. The episode invites listeners to see science not as an isolated enterprise but as a living conversation with culture, art, and media—where the line between play and study blurs in a productive, educational way.

Closing Thoughts: A Two-Way Street Worth Funding

The hosts reiterate that natural history remains a central wellspring for innovation in science and culture. By embracing the two-way exchange between Pokemon and science, institutions can cultivate curiosity, support rigorous research, and inspire new generations of scientists who see the world through both rigorous inquiry and imaginative storytelling. The episode closes with a forward-looking nod to future cross-disciplinary explorations that connect taxonomy, biodiversity, and public imagination in a shared pursuit of understanding the natural world.