Funny, long, or just plain weird animal names

Nature Talk
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370

Actually gigas means giant.

371

Precisely

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The silliest debate ever :joy:.

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

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

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374

Glory of the Sea Cone

Elegant Sapsucking Slug

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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.

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377

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

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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:

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379

Not anymore! :wink:

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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

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Venus’ Looking Glass

Dragonhunter

Awesome suggestions, I added both! :)

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383

What about the Stygian Shadowdragon?

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384

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

385

Hmm, what about the Mischievous Bird Grasshopper?

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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’’!!!

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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

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388

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

What do you think about the Hawaiian blue?

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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]

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