{{further|List of things named after J. R. R. Tolkien and his works#Named after animals}}
Several taxa have been named after Tolkien's dragons. Two extinct genera have been named after Ancalagon: [[Ancalagon (genus)|a genus of priapulid worms]] from the Cambrian [[Burgess Shale]],<ref>{{cite web |title=''Ancalagon minor'' |url=https://burgess-shale.rom.on.ca/fossils/ancalagon-minor/ |titleaccess-date=Ancalagon26 minorDecember 2022 |website=The Burgess Shale |access-date=26 December 2022}}</ref> and [[Ankalagon saurognathus|a genus of mammals]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Photomacrography of Fossils for Publication |first=Richard |last=Lund |journal=Journal of Paleontology |volume=54 |issue=1 |date=January 1980 |pages=264–266 |jstor=1304185 }}</ref> An extinct genus of [[Weigeltisauridae|weigeltisaurid]] reptile from the Upper [[Permian]] is named ''[[Glaurung (reptile)|Glaurung]]''.<ref name="Bulanov Sennikov 2015">{{cite journal |last1=Bulanov |first1=V. V. |last2=Sennikov |first2=A. G. |date=29 December 2015 |title=''Glaurung schneideri'' gen. et sp. nov., a new weigeltisaurid (Reptilia) from the Kupfershiefer (Upper Permian) of Germany |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284156665 |journal=Paleontological Journal |volume=49 |issue=12 |pages=1353–1364 |doi=10.1134/S0031030115120035 |s2cid=87461613 }}</ref> A genus of southern African girdled lizards is named ''[[Smaug (lizard)|Smaug]]'',<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/current-exhibitions/life-at-the-limits/protect-and-prosper |title=Protect and Prosper |website=[[American Museum of Natural History]] | access-date=30 August 2015}}</ref> since they are armoured, dwell underground, and are native to Tolkien's birthplace, [[Free State, South Africa]].<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Edward L. |last1=Stanley |first2=Aaron M. |last2=Bauer |first3=Todd R. |last3=Jackman |first4=William R. |last4=Branch |first5=P. Le Fras N. |last5=Mouton |title=Between a rock and a hard polytomy: Rapid radiation in the rupicolous girdled lizards (Squamata: Cordylidae) |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |publisher=[[Academic Press]] |volume=58 |issue=1 |pages=53–70 |date=2011 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2010.08.024 |pmid=20816817}}</ref> Among the various species named after Smaug is the [[Acanthosomatidae|shield bug]] ''Planois smaug'', so called because of its size and its status "sleeping" in the researcher's collections for about 60 years until it was discovered in 2015.<ref>{{cite web |first=Eduardo |last=Faúndez |url=http://entomologytoday.org/2015/06/19/patagonian-shield-bug-named-after-middles-earths-smaug-the-dragon/ |title=Patagonian Shield Bug Named After Middle's Earth's Smaug the Dragon |work=[[Entomology Today]] |publisher=[[Entomological Society of America]] |location=Annapolis, Maryland |date=19 June 2015 |access-date=20 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first1=Mariom A. |last1=Carvajal |first2=Eduardo I. |last2=Faúndez |first3=David A. |last3=Rider |title=Contribución al conocimiento de los Acanthosomatidae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) de la Región de Magallanes, con descripción de una nueva especie |doi=10.4067/s0718-686x2015000100013 |journal=Anales del Instituto de la Patagonia (Chile) |date=2015 |volume=43 |issue=1 |pages=145–151 |doi-access=free }}</ref> An ant species has been named ''[[Tetramorium smaug]]''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hita Garcia |first1=Francisco |last2=Fisher |first2=Brian L. |date=19 December 2012 |title=The ant genus ''Tetramorium'' Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Malagasy region—taxonomic revision of the ''T. kelleri'' and ''T. tortuosum'' species groups |url=http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2012/f/zt03592p085.pdf |journal=[[Zootaxa]] |publisher=Magnolia Press |issue=3592 |pages=1–85 |isbn=978-1-77557-073-8 }}</ref>
