Funny, long, or just plain weird animal names

Nature Talk
, ,
371

Precisely

1 Like
372

The silliest debate ever :joy:.

I mean, it seems like something extremely irrelevant but at the same time it’s such a mistery.

373

The ‘minor’ comes from the fact that it was described as the smallest pelican species and was reclassified later.

6 Likes
374

Glory of the Sea Cone

Elegant Sapsucking Slug

4 Likes
375

The second one is better.

376

I currently have a list going which is mostly full of taxa with whimsical, fairytale-like names. A few highlights include the Stately Maiden Fern, Black Prince, Witch’s Hat, and my personal favorite: the Orchid Of The Sacred Sleep.

3 Likes
377

Seeing as this thread isn’t just animals anymore:
Bare-bottom Sunburst Lichen

1 Like
378

It’s a good list, but you’re missing fairy shrimp. :slightly_smiling_face:

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/495841-Sarsostraca
And if you don’t mind going up to suborders, I guess you could throw in Dragonflies & Damselflies :thinking:

2 Likes
379

Not anymore! :wink:

1 Like
380

Would something will Venus in the name be leaning more towards mthyology than fairytales? There’s at least 2 different genuses of plant with species named “Venus’ Looking Glass”

381

Or better yet: Dragonhunter

2 Likes
382

Venus’ Looking Glass

Dragonhunter

Awesome suggestions, I added both! :)

2 Likes
383

What about the Stygian Shadowdragon?

3 Likes
384

Already added it, that’s definitely a cool one!

385

Hmm, what about the Mischievous Bird Grasshopper?

3 Likes
386

Got another one: the Hawaiian blue! At first it might not sound funny, long, or plain weird, but the only thing you have to do is to click here:
https://gardenswithwings.com/wp-content/uploads/koa-real-green-butterfly.jpg?ezimgfmt=rs:282x282/rscb1/ng:webp/ngcb1

That’s the Hawaiian ‘‘blue’’!!!

2 Likes
387

I found out today that Giant Water Bugs are also known as ‘Toe-biters’ which a much more entertaining name!

https://inaturalist.ca/taxa/81570-Belostomatidae

3 Likes
388

Didn’t you know about that name? It’s a pretty common one.

What do you think about the Hawaiian blue?

389

I think you need a separate topic specifically for taxa to add to your list!
Not that I think there’s anything wrong with you following along here!

It just turns out there’s a lot of fairy tale names (see here just for ones with “fairy”) and they could get lost among the other names in this topic. :laughing:

[edited to add: you can change the keyword from fairy to any word of your choosing…I believe many taxa commonly use words like “dragon”, “elfin”, “witch” (the fairytale kind, not Wiccans), etc. so that may be another way to find some in addition to asking]

3 Likes
390

Very “blue”.

1 Like