www.CuriousTaxonomy.net
|
Curiosities of Biological Nomenclature
|
Mark Isaak
|
|
Wordplay: Unusual Letter Combinations
|
|

Abcichthys Whitley, 1927 (fish)
Barleeiidae (marine snail) The pair of double
letters, though unusual, would not be particularly noteworthy, except
the family is part of the superfamily
Rissooidea, with a completely different pair of
double letters.
Closterocerus coffeellae Ihering, 1914
(parasitic wasp) Three consecutive doubled letters.
Betonica abchasica, Cyclamen abchasicum, Helleborus
abchasicus (paeonia plants from Republic of Georgia) "abc"
combination.
Xyzzors Inglis, 1966 (nematode)
Mnoonema Motschoulsky, 1863 (wasp)
Limnophilidae (caddisfly), Limnophora (fly),
Limnopithecus (Miocene fossil primate),
Prumnopitys Philippi, 1860 (conifer),
Semnopithecus (langur monkey),
Thamnophis (garter snake),
Thamnophilidae (antbirds) - "mnop" combination.
Pnyxia (fly)
Zaa Baillon, 1887 (Bignoniaceae)
Zyx Smit, 1953 (flea)
Zyxmyia (fly)
Borealosuchus threeensis Brochu et al., 2012
(Cretaceous/Eocene crocodyliform) Named for exit 3 of the New Jersey
Turnpike.
Brachinus aabaaba Erwin, 1970 (carabid)
Ajaia ajaja Linnaeus, 1758 (roseate
spoonbill)
Coccophagus ishiii (aphelinid wasp)
from Japan.
Helobdella nununununojensis Siddall, 2001
(leech) from Nununununoj, a Quechua placename, "The Place of Very
Bare Breasts", from nunu, nipple.
Khoikhoiiinae (subfamily of braconid wasp) Likely
named after the Khoikhoi people of southwestern Africa. I cannot
explain why there are three consecutive i's rather than
two.
Lagynodes ooii Dessart, 1982 (ceraphronid
wasp)
Leaia Jones, 1862 (fossil crustacean, family
Leaiidae)
Ninini (a tribe of bugs in the Cyminae subfamily)
Saurodon leaae Hays, 1830 (fossil fish) a name
introduced in synonymy of Saurodon lanciformis Harlan,
1824
Centuriavis lioae Ksepka et al. 2022
(Miocene pheasant) Named after Suzanne Lio.
Semicytherura miii (Ishizaki, 1969)
(ostracod)
Last modified: .
© 2002-2022
Mark Isaak.
All rights reserved.