10 Species with Interesting
Scientific Names!
Parliamentarian Marcus Grewal, Columbus Academy
Ever since the classics-enthusiast Carolus Linnaeus reworked the system of
classifying species, Latin (and Greek) has had a special place in the study of
taxonomy. The rules for the naming of a species are barely confining, which
has inspired many scientists to include wordplay, puns, tributes, or irony in
the scientific names of certain species. Most importantly, this discipline is
just another example of a way that Latin lives on in the universal scientific
community.
Below are 10 species names that are interesting in one way or another. See if
you can decipher them with your own knowledge of the classics!
1. Bald Eagle
2. Black Widow (North American)
3. Prehistoric Sea Turtle
4. Upside-down jellyfish
5. Titan Arum (Smelly Flower)
6. Mussel Crawfish
7. Uncommon Horsefly
8. Venus Flytrap
9. Megalodon
10. Loch Ness Monster
Haliaeetus Leucocephalus
Latrodectus Mactans
Psephophorus Terrypratchetti
Cassiopea Andromeda
Amorphophallus titanum
Rabilimis mirabilis
Tabanus rhizonshine
Dionaea muscipula
Carcharocles megalodon
Nessiteras rhombopteryx
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