www.CuriousTaxonomy.net
|
Curiosities of Biological Nomenclature
|
Mark Isaak
|
|
Wordplay: Rhymes and Alliteration
|
|

Adonnadonna primadonna (siliceous
microfossil) The name comes from a song in a National Lampoon album,
which uses those words to refer to a primadonna girl.
Aequorea victoria (bioluminescent
hydromedusa)
Alcelaphus buselaphus Pallas, 1766
(hartebeest) A. buselaphus buselaphus, an extinct subspecies,
gives a trinomial rhyme.
Alouatta ululata Elliot, 1912 (howler
monkey) Often, though, considered a subspecies, Alouatta belzebub
ululata.
Apolysis crisis Evenhuis, 1990 (bee
fly)
Apus opus (common (European) swift)
Bacillus subtilis (Ehrenberg 1835) Cohn, 1872
(bacterium, a mild relative of anthrax)
Bacillus pumillus (bacterium)
Botaurus stellaris (Eurasian
bittern)
Cedusa medusa McAtee, 1924 (planthopper) See
Repetition for several other
rhymes in the genus.
Chrysanthemum leucanthemum (oxeye daisy)
Chrysophora chrysochlora (Latreille)
(scarab)
Eclectus infectus Steadman, 2006
(parrot)
Equisetum myriochaetum (giant Mexican
horsetail).
Etiella zinckenella (Treitschke, 1832)
(pulse pod borer moth)
Ganesella carinella Möllendorff,
1902 (snail)
Gelae belae Miller and Wheeler, 2004 (fungus
beetle) See also the other
puns on
Gelae.
Gelis agilis (Fabricius, 1775) (ichneumonid
wasp)
Gymnothorax mordax (California moray)
Heterosquilla polydactyla (mantis shrimp)
Iyaiyai Evenhuis, 1994 (fossil chaoborid fly) Evenhuis
originally proposed "I" as the genus name (allowed by the ICZN rules),
but a chaoborid worker told him he didn't want ever to have to write in
a paper that "I have small male genitalia", so Evenhuis changed it to
a more Mexican sounding genus name.
Linum trigynum L. (French flax)
Macrotis lagotis Reid, 1837 (Rabbit-eared
bandicoot)
Paraceratherium Forster-Cooper, 1911
(Oligocene hornless rhino). An internal rhyme.
Pyralis regalis (Denis & Schiffermüller,
1775) (meal moth). Also
Pyralis farinalis Linnaeus, 1758,
Pyralis electalis Hulst, 1886, and
others.
Raffia ruffia (raffia plant) Also noted for
having the largest leaves, up to 65.5 ft. long.
Rana bwana Hillis & DeSa, 1988 (South
American frog) Named in honor of renowned herpetologist Dr. James R.
Dixon. Dixon had many taxa named after him already, so Hillis and DeSa
named the frog after Dixon's nickname, "Bwana" Jim.
Sagittarius serpentarius J.F. Miller, 1779 (secretary
bird)
Salacca zalacca (Indonesian palm)
Scelio ardelio Yoder, 2014 (parasitic
wasp) [Zookeys 380]
Sphex rex Hensen, 1991 (digger wasp)
Tamoya ohboya (Bonaire banded box
jellyfish)
Trichuris muris (nematode)
Tuta absoluta Meyrick, 1917 (South American
tomato moth)
Yi qi Xu et al., 2015 (Jurassic theropod)
pronounced "EE CHEE".
Last modified: .
© 2002-2022
Mark Isaak.
All rights reserved.