I can’t think of any right now but the Elfin Saddles reminded me of a fungus called Dryad’s Saddle.
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The Bahama Woodstar certainly fits - I was so excited when I saw one, and the name is almost as pretty as the bird!
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In the spirit of the Brothers Grimm, I offer you the Devil’s Coach Horse (Creophilus oculatus, or Ocypus olens if you live in the Upside Down).
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Satyr Tragopan
Hyacinth Visorbearer
Pink Fairy Armadillo
Mouth Almighty
Whalehead Dreamer
Gummy Shark
Little Leaf Sheep
Wonderpus
Black Witch
White Witch
Heart and Dark
Grateful Midget
The Sorcerer
Ebony Boghaunter
Rock-haunting Ringtail
Unicorn Hunter
Eight-eyed Blood Hedgehog
Headless Chicken Monster
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Wow you guys have some awesome ones! Thank you for everything you’ve shared so far!
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If science fiction counts, there’s Leucospora multifida , known as Obi-Wan conobea.
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If we’re counting Star Wars, there’s also the Skywalker Hoolock Gibbon, the Darth Maul Bug, the Darth Vader Begonia, and the Darth Vader Giant Pill Millipede.
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I have this list of animals with weird names. Not all apply to the topic at hand (and I’ve already most of the ones that do), but thought I’d mention it anyway.
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Also, Yellow Fly of the Dismal Swamp. And Dutchman’s Breeches.
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That’s an extremely epic one, although according to me they are only called ‘‘yellow flies’’, and I haven’t seen any source other than iNat calling them like that.
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Bugguide, What’s the Bug, and Maryland Biodiversity all use it:
https://bugguide.net/node/view/50378
https://www.whatsthatbug.com/2018/06/01/yellow-fly-of-the-dismal-swamp/
https://www.marylandbiodiversity.com/view/9564
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Mushrooms:
Elf cups
Fairy parachutes
Devils Urns
Witch Butter
Black Witch Butter
Wallengria (sp?) - some the skipper butterflies that are confusing (“The Witches”)
Blue Ghost and Shadow Ghost (fireflies)
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Just as an FYI, you can go to the search page, select the “taxa” tab, and use keywords from many of the suggestions here (fairy, devil, witch, dragon, etc) to find even more organisms:
https://www.inaturalist.org/search?utf8=✓&q=&commit=Go&source[]=taxa
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Literally these: Fairytails
The Dragon and Damselflies are a great source for super-creative fairytale names.
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Yellow Fly of the Dismal Swamp
I actually already had this one added! It’s probably one of my favorites on the list so far.
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Don’t forget about the real dragon
Varanus komodoensis - Komodo Dragon
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Ehrendorferia chrysantha
In the poppy family. The name reminds me of a place name in a Tolkien book.
This thread definitely needs a “Most metal organism names” follow-up.
Diabolical Ironclad Beetle
Pentagramma triangularis (goldback fern)
Etc…
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