I used to often go through lists, google searches, and so on looking for funny/weird animal names. I have made quite a few lists already, and I thought I would make a post here to see if some of you know some good ones. plants and fungi also welcome :) Here are some of my favorites that I can fin…

Anyone heard of the cyanide millipedes?(and they had to add an cyanide into an insects name?)

Millipedes aren’t insects (sorry I had to be pedantic). Also, could it be that they do contain cyanide? Because I know a lot of millipedes are in fact poisonous.

We’ve generated this long-running thread, and somehow nobody’s yet mentioned the Vampire Squid from Hell ?

yeah but eh still phylum arthropoada so im gonna call anything there insects even tho its not right

Oh my gosh! It’s early in my day (4:50am) and I guessed right… the first time! Thanks!:blush:

Canary thorn is a moth. A couple of non-animals are turkey tangle frogfruit (Verbenaceae, and oddly its genus is named Phyla) and pingpong bat fungus, which is in fact a mushroom, though it doesn’t look like one.

And the recently described Hapalopus planetearth (A species of tarantula) goes ignored…

Was it found during filming one of their specials?

Funny, long, or just plain weird animal names

Nature Talk

phma December 1, 2025, 8:23am 865

The poetry moth is a noctuid. Doesn’t look at all like poetry.

Without looking it up, can you guess what a white baby ear is?

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Funny, long, or just plain weird animal names

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