Funny, long, or just plain weird animal names

Nature Talk
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I’m an adult and it makes me chuckle too! Just shows it’s not the age, but the maturity level… :D

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Wandering Donkey Acraea

And to think it is a butterfly

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There was an excellent article on Atlas Obscura the other day about just this!

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/strangely-named-animals

It’s talking about the release of a new beautifully illustrated Children’s book all about animals with weird and wonderful names (Here’s a link if you’re interested). My favourite was definitely the Sparklemuffin. Adorable name for a very cute spider!

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I recently went through iNat’s Poison frog taxonomy, and found some good ones there:

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I want a cocktail named “Salty Rocket Frog” I think it would be delicious

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Alluring Giant

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I have always been amused by the criminals of the animal name world.
Robber Flies
Mugger Crocodiles
Raider Ants
Buccaneer anchovies
Plunderfishes
Corsair bugs
Prowling Spiders
Thief Weevils
Pirate Spiders
Cheating Mountain Grasshoppers

And in the mushroom world, my favorite has always been the Green-footed Fiber head. My siblings and I used to go through the index of our mycology books to find new insults to call each other.

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I quite like the Agreeable Tiger Moth…

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Yes. I agree.

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How have we not mentioned the Bobbit Worm?
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/200950-Eunice-aphroditois

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Our own contributor and Madagascar herp expert @markscherz has gifted the world with a new genus of very small frogs with the genus name Mini and the species names Mini ature, Mini scule and Mini mum: http://www.markscherz.com/archives/4055

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I am also a big fan of the Malaysian gecko Cyrtodactylus australotitiwangsaensis.

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And I enjoy cases where the scientific and common names are somehow at odds. Favourites include:
the variable oystercatcher is H. unicolor,
the great frigatebird is F. minor, and
the sub-antarctic fur seal is A. tropicalis

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lol, that’s the first time I’ve seen binomial abbreviations used incorrectly, but end up making more sense to do so!

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Difficult key…I wonder if they ever modulate :grin:

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Maianthemum racemosum has a panicle inflorescence and Maianthemum stellatum has a raceme.

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Just found out about the whole lizard genus of Smaug. Unfortunaly none of them can fly or breath fire :(

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I guess it would depend how close they lived to your house on whether it is good or bad fortune. :)

The Draco family can fly!

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A-hem! May I have your attention, please?

I’d like to present the following beetle:
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/456803-Colon-rectum

Thank you.

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I learned about the dispirited tiger beetle today from @silversea_starsong : https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/127991-Cicindela-depressula

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