Favourite Scientific Names

Zoofan15

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
Favourite Scientific Names

What are our favourite Scientific names for species we see in zoos?

My top three (in no particular order) would have to be:

1. Secretary bird (Sagittarius serpentarius):

This appeals to me as a Sagittarius and a Slytherin.

2. Polar bear (Ursus maritimus):

What better way to describe the world’s only bear species to be considered a marine mammal?

3. Rothschild’s giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi):

The camel leopard reference is great by itself; but what I really like is the choice to name this subspecies of the Northern giraffe after the Rothschild’s family. This is because it’s the only giraffe phenotype to be born with five ossicones on it’s head. This is a reference to the Rothschild family: The Rothschild coat of arms contains a clenched fist with five arrows symbolising the five dynasties established by the five sons of Mayer Rothschild, in a reference to Psalm 127: "Like arrows in the hands of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth."
 
I defy anyone to say Upupa epops without smiling.

Try it; it's impossible.
 
Myrmecophaga tridactyla, Thayeria boehlkei, Odoceilus virginianus; these are almost unpronouncable names for me.
 
Uaru amphiacanthoides.
I like its call-and-response quality ("Who are you?" "Amphi Acanthoides!") and I took me several attempts before I managed to pronounce it completely. On the other hand, I know of one fishkeeper who kept and bred the species, who called them 'Flymos' because of the way they ate the plants in her tank :)
 
Strategus longichomperus

Fiordichthys slartibartfasti

Ittibittium (snails species in this genus are slightly smaller than those in the genus Bittium)

Sarucallis kahawaluokalani (an aphid whose name means "You fish on one side of the lagoon and I'll fish on the other, and no one will fish in the middle")

Ytu brutus

Beetles: Agra vation,
Also,
Agra culture
Agra phobia
Agra pefruit
 
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