taxonomicetymology

[taxonomicetymology]

Pufferfish

Tetraodontidae

From Greek tetra (four) + odont (”tooth”) + Latin idae (indicating “descent from”, used as a suffix for taxonomic families). Tetraodontidae is the family containing the pufferfish. The family is named for their four large teeth used for crushing crustaceans and molluscs.

[taxonomicetymology]

Breast tooth

Mastodon

From Greek mastos (”breast”) + odont (”tooth”).

Named for the rounded protrusions on top of its molars. I’ll let you make up your own mind.

image credit: top: Charles R. Knight [Public domain]

bottom: Robert Chambers (1802-1871) [Public domain]

[taxonomicetymology]

Lion-panther

Leopard

From Greek leon (”lion”) + pardos (”male panther”), derived from the belief that the leopard was a hybrid of the two.

image credit: Patrick Giraud (edited to fix white balance) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)]

[taxonomicetymology]

Wolf fart

Lycoperdon

From Greek lýkos (”wolf”) + pérdomai (“to break wind”).

Lycoperdon is a genus of puffball mushroom, known as “wolf farts” in Spanish (pedos de lobo) and French (vesse-de-loup).

image credit: CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=167116

[taxonomicetymology]

Explosion-born lizard

Ekrixinatosaurus

From Greek ekrixi (”explosion”) + Latin nātus (”born”) + Greek sauros (”lizard”).

The genus was discovered due to blasting during construction of a gas pipeline in Argentina. 

image credit: Ilya0068 [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

[taxonomicetymology]

Gonad City

Csiromedusa medeopolis

From Greek mede (”genitals, gonads”) + polis (”city”). So named because the gonads of each sex are arranged around the top of the animal, resembling  "skyscrapers in a downtown business district.”

The genus name comes from CSIRO, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, + medusa (“jellyfish”).

image credit: ABC News

[taxonomicetymology]

Knucklehead

Colepiocephale

From Latin colepium (”knuckle, unidentified preparation of meat”) + Greek kephalē (”head”).

Coliocephale is a genus of pachycephalosaurid (thick head lizard) dinosaur. 

image credit: Danny Cicchetti [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

[taxonomicetymology]

Legless bird-of-paradise

Above: a bird with no legs that never lands on Earth

Paradisaea apoda - greater bird-of-paradise

From a- (”not”) + Greek pous, pod- (”foot”) 

The original study specimens were prepared by local New Guineans with the wings and legs removed, leading to the myth that the birds, as visitors from paradise, never landed on Earth.

image credit: By Andrea Lawardi - originally posted to Flickr as paradiso, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4558086

[taxonomicetymology]

Camel bird

Struthio camelus - common ostrich

From Greek strouthós (“bird”) and kámēlos (“camel”), via Latin struthiocamelus (”ostrich”). 

Romans also knew the ostrich as  passer marinus (”sea bird”), because they were imported by sea. 

image credit: MathKnight [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

[taxonomicetymology]

Worm tongue

Vermilingua

From Latin vermis (”worm”) + lingua (”tongue”).

Vermilingua is the suborder of mammals that contains the anteaters. 

image credit: Ellen from Ann Arbor, MI, USA [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]

[taxonomicetymology]

Deadly knife-tooth

Smilodon fatalis - sabre-toothed tiger

From Greek smilē (”knife”) + odont (”tooth”) and Latin fatalis  (”deadly”).

image credit: Charles R. Knight [Public domain]

[taxonomicetymology]

Flat-nosed horn-beast

Ceratotherium simum - white rhinoceros 

From Greek keras (”horn”) + thērion (”beast”) and  simos (”flat-nosed”).

Rhinoceros

From Greek rhis (”nose”) + keras (”horn”).

image credit: Ikiwaner [GFDL 1.2 (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html)]

[taxonomicetymology]

Corpse whale

Narwhal 

Probably from Old Norse na ("corpse") + hvalr ("whale"), referring to its grey colour. 

Monodon monoceros

The binomial name of the narwhal is Latin for one tooth (mono + don) one horn (mono + ceros)

[taxonomicetymology]

Sacred bird

Threskiornis

From Greek thrēskeia (”religion, worship) + ornis (”bird”). The genus Threskiornis includes the African sacred ibis, worshipped by ancient Egyptians. 

image credit: Derek Keats from Johannesburg, South Africa [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]

[taxonomicetymology]

Meatlovers

Sarcophilus, from Greek sarx (”flesh”) + philos (”loving”), is the genus containing the Tasmanian devil and its extinct relatives.

[taxonomicetymology]

River horse

Hippopotamus amphibius - Common hippopotamus

From Greek hippos (”horse”) + potamos (”river”) and amphi (”both”) + bios (”life”) 

image credit: Diego Delso [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

[taxonomicetymology]

Red bigfoot

Macropus rufus - red kangaroo

From Greek makros (”large, long”) + pous (”foot”) and Latin rufus (”red”).

Other bigfoot species include:

giant bigfoot, Macropus giganteus - eastern grey kangaroo

sooty bigfoot, Macropus fuliginosus - western grey kangaroo

nimble bigfoot, Macropus agilus - agile wallaby

image credit: Dan Armbrust on flickr