I just discovered that the newest species of Fringe-toed Lizard (longstanding genus Uma) is named Uma thurmanae.
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Cool. Thatâs apparently a very recent species description (2020) since a search on the web provides almost nothing except websites talking about the actress!
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It is indeed from 2020, but early enough 2020 that The Reptile Database first picked it up and then later iNaturalist was updated with the output from The Reptile Database.
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My favorite is what is possibly the longest English common name, the Association EuropĂ©enne pour lâEtude et la Conservation des LĂ©muriensâ Sportive Lemur.
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âEnglishâ, ha!
Well for the most part is isnât English (arguably only one word in that name is English), but it is an English name.
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Understood â I just found it funny. I guess âSportiveâ and âLemurâ are both English.
Lemur is actually Latin for ghost.
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https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/8271-Dicrurus-bracteatus Spangled Drongo.
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My bad, but I canât fix it because it seems you canât edit comments that old.
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Sort of. Lemurum is a Latin name for a malevolent spirit of a dead person.
Lemur is English for lemur.
Edited to add: Regardless, as a citizen of an English/French bilingual country I have to say that Association EuropĂ©enne pour lâEtude et la Conservation des LĂ©muriensâ Sportive Lemur is a pretty cool name, bien sĂ»r.
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The word Lemur comes from Lemurum.
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Sure. Like a lot of words in English, it is borrowed from a Latin word, in this case lemurum (plural lemures). Linnaeus based the generic name he applied to the animal on the Latin word for a ghostly entity based on its nocturnal habits and slow movements. English speakers use a common name based on the generic name Linnaeus chose.
The word lemur appears in English dictionaries as an English word. If it also a Latin word (my Latin is limited - maybe there is some form of lemurum that is rendered that way) that doesnât make it any less English.
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I never said it made it any less English, I was only saying it is (arguably) also a Latin word.
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Isnât it considered an act of torture for you to start reading Vogon poetry at us?
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Beautiful. Just for thatâŠ
Oh freddled gruntbuggly,
Thy micturations are to me, (with big yawning)
As plurdled gabbleblotchits, in midsummer morning
On a lurgid beeâŠ
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And then there is the legendary lost continent of Lemuria (a.k.a. Mu). Now thereâs a place Iâd like to make some iNat observations!
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I always found it weird that the Peppered Moth, Biston betularia cognataria, and the entire Tribe Bistonini are named after a Greek Demigod of War, Biston.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/54057004 by @jeanniefraser.
Does this cute moth look like a raging Atreus to you?
In any case, one possible version of the translation - Related Birch; Son of War; Son of River - would be awesome alternative name for any animal in general.
Also, Bistonini sounds like a fancy panini sandwich that would be served at an expensive restaurant.
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heehheeehheee!
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