#cottagecore, I guess!
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Everything in the Genus Sula. . .
I can think of some weird plants, too. . .
Like the genus name for chimpanzees, pan here is unrelated to the Spanish word for bread; instead, it’s almost certainly referring to the Greek god Pan (classical mythological references were commonly used in scientific names way back when).
Regarding the name Enema: Fabricius named a species Scarabaeus enema, and its specific epithet was later coopted by other authors for the name of the current genus. As for why he chose that epithet for that particular species*, if I had to guess I’d say he might’ve been alluding to its long, tapered, and unforked pronotal horn, since he contrasts that with the broad, forked pronotal horn of the otherwise very similar Scarabaeus pan that he’d named previously; in Late Latin (and Ancient Greek), enema simply referred to an injection of any sort, so maybe the unforked pronotal horn of his S. enema reminded him of something like an ovipositor or sting (or maybe he accidentally poked his finger on the specimen and was inspired by that - who knows)
*(It was later discovered that Scarabaeus pan, S. enema, and various other “species” named in the late 1700s and early 1800s for their differing horn morphologies just represent individual/regional variation in a single species, for which pan has priority.)
tl;dr: Enema could potentially refer to the tapered, unforked pronotal horn of one of the various forms of E. pan, and pan is a Greek mythology reference.
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Yeah, I don’t think for a second it was what I alluded to, its just more fun to think of the worse interpretation.
But I also assumed pan was more from the Greek word “Pan” meaning all/universal, used for more widespread species.
And Enema being late latin for Injection. I figured it possibly refers to the needle like nose.
Basically, A very “needly widespread species”
Only assumptions though, I am willing to be wrong.
Sad Flycatcher.
Gray/White/Bare-faced Go Away Bird.
Monotonous Lark.
Satanic Nightjar.
Exclamatory Paradise-Whydah.
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Hillbilly Hairy CrayfishCambarus polypilosus
and Black Spongillafly (Sisyra nigra) (inaturalist.org)
are some which I find rather amusing.
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But mostly, when something is called ‘‘edulis’’ it is a quite prized edible.
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I like some of the clam names in the PNW, specifically FAT GAPER and NUTALL’s COCKLE
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Whoever was naming clams must have either had a bad day or had been sprayed by a clam whilst doing fieldwork.
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Surprised to learn that the Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) isn’t remotely part of the Mustard Family (Brassicaceae)…
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So, I learned this week* that the genus name for Puff Adders and related snakes is … Bitis. Which, you could probably guess, is Latin for ‘bites’.
The Doctor and I decided whoever named it originally planned to call it Bitey McBiteface, but was persuaded to go with something which sounded slightly more dignified.
*(Who says that a holiday light display at the Zoo can’t be educational?)
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in Sam O’Nella’s animal names video (which, fair warning before googling it, is more than a little crude/has some questionably tasteful jokes) he quips that “the scientists called it Bitis, because it bit us :(.”
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Just found one; the crinoid genus Davidaster. It means “Star of David.”
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Anytime I see “True X”, like True Jellies, True Sparrows, True Bugs, and so on, it reminds me of the No True Scotsman fallacy, said with the same inflection.
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Even funnier is that I am not aware of any such taxa as False Jellies, False Sparrows, or False Bugs.
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Not an animal, so maybe off-topic, but there’s Spanish False Fleabane (Pulicaria paludosa), a member of Fleabanes (Pulicaria). I don’t see any other “False” ones under the taxonomy tree. Not sure if this means it’s not Spanish or it doesn’t kill fleas.
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Lots more False taxa come up in search, kind of amusing on their own out of context: https://www.inaturalist.org/search?q=false&source[]=taxa
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Well, we do have False Potato Beetles, no ‘true’ potato beetles though. Seems like you only get one or the other with naming conventions, huh?
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I can never read the name of that fallacy without hearing it in a verrrrra broad Edinburra accent in my head.
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I just learned there’s a Neglected Eighty-eight butterfly.
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