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Most of the time, when scientists come up with the names of animals, they include in the name some information about the animal’s looks or behavior or another thing characteristic of them. But sometimes scientists let their imaginations run wild and come up with funny sounding names or names that have nothing to do with reality.
For example, let’s have a look at guinea pigs. These cute little fellas come from the same group as beavers, squirrels, and hamsters. Natives of South America, they have nothing to do with either the country of Guinea or pigs, and yet, this is the name they are known by in daily life. In some countries they are called “sea pigs,” which makes even less sense.
But if you thought this was a funny animal name, wait until you meet the fried egg jellyfish and tasselled wobbegong. While the first sounds like the person in charge of naming it was hungry at the time, the second one could have easily come down from the pages of a Lewis Carroll story. To be fair to the scientists though, very often those weird names are very much justified by nature’s creativity. What else are you supposed to call a screaming hairy armadillo if it’s… well, hairy, and also screams when you touch it.
Another thing you will often find scientists doing is creating long animal names. The longest one presently recorded belongs to the soldier fly. Its scientific Latin name, although only two words long, consists of 42 letters.
In this article we have collected animals with funny names. What other funny animal names have you heard that made you chuckle?
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#1
Blue-Footed Booby
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#2
Satanic Leaf-Tailed Gecko
#3
Screaming Hairy Armadillo
#4
Pink Fairy Armadillo
#5
Fried Egg Jellyfish
#6
Axolotl
#7
Chinstrap Penguin
#8
Christmas Tree Worm
#9
Noisy Miner
#10
Dik-Dik
#11
Deer Mouse
DoNotGoGentleIntoThatGoodNight 3 years ago
That's actually a mouse deer. A deer mouse is actually a mouse.
#12
Hummingbird Hawk-Moth
#13
Spangled Cotinga
#14
Mountain Chicken Frog
#15
Tufted Titmouse
#16
Willie Wagtail
#17
Caracal Caracal
Philly Bob Squires 3 years ago
Absolutely a stunning cat! Caracals and Bobcats are my favorites.
#18
Frilled-Necked Lizard
#19
Red-Cheeked Cordon-Bleu
#20
Humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa
Solange Brault 3 years ago
This looks like a Hawai'ian word, not something cooked up by scientists. Actually there are several names in this list that are from local people: Axolotl, dik-dik, aye-aye, kakapo, etc.
#21
Binturong
DoNotGoGentleIntoThatGoodNight 3 years ago
If it wasn't for the odd name, my younger self wouldn't have bothered learning about this beautiful creature when I was nose deep in my animal encyclopaedias.
#22
Tasmanian Devil
DoNotGoGentleIntoThatGoodNight 3 years ago
I was a very confused child when I first learned these were real. I was expecting it to look more like TAZ!
#23
Shoebill
#24
Thumbelina Horse
Deborah Harris 3 years ago
Sadly she passed away in 2018, she is/was a dwarf miniature brown horse. She stood 43 centimetres (17 in) tall and weighed 26 kilograms (57 lb) and is in the Guinness book of records for the smallest horse xx
#25
Pleasing Fungus Beetle
#27
Aye-Aye
#29
Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla
#31
Red-Footed Booby
#33
Fossa
#34
Kakapo
#35
Crex Crex
#36
Horned Screamer
#37
Horned Toad (Phrynosoma Cornutum)
#38
Red Panda
#39
Chocolate Chip Sea Star (Protoreaster Nodosus)
#40
Bear Paw Clam
#41
Dickcissel
#42
Lumpsucker
#43
Gang-Gang Cockatoo
#45
Glaucus Atlanticus
#46
Pocket Gopher
#47
Chicken Turtle
#48
Tomato Frog
#49
Whip-Poor-Will
Vix Spiderthrust 3 years ago (edited)
As referenced in various HP Lovecraft stories, in which it is claimed that they gather around the house of a dying person to grab their departing soul.
#50
Hawaiian Monk Seal
#51
Maned Wolf
DoNotGoGentleIntoThatGoodNight 3 years ago
Fun fact: Also known as the 'stilt legged fox' but not related to either families!
#52
Euro Kangaroo
#53
Warty Pig
#54
Monarch Butterfly
DennyS (denzoren) 3 years ago
We had so many of these locally but recently they are so scarce...use of pesticides etc.
#55
European Penduline Tit
#56
Common Loon
#57
Patagonian Mara
#58
Long-Nosed Monkey
#61
Babirusa
#63
Howler Monkey
DennyS (denzoren) 3 years ago
Yes, they do howl and you can hear it very far away. At the break of dawn you can hear them howling and trust me if you don't know it's a band of monkeys....it can be quite frightening.
#64
Spectacled Bear (Tremarctos Ornatus)
#65
Fruit Bat
#66
Razor Clam
Barbara L Bristow 3 years ago
This on makes sense. The edge is very sharp. I've been cut by one
#68
Colugo (Dermoptère)
#69
Plains-Wanderer
#70
Olm
#71
Tasmanian Pademelon
#72
Green Monkey
#73
Cricetus Cricetus
#74
Pacarana
#77
Italian Three-Toed Skink (Chalcides Chalcides)
Screen_Addict 3 years ago
Did anyone else read 'skink' as 'snake'? Got to the end and was very confused
#79
Pied Shag
#80
Angler Fish
#81
Sea Cucumber
#84
Loggerhead Sea Turtle
#85
Pacu
Stephanie Did It 3 years ago
I see one in an aquarium eat a whole carrot before it landed on the bottom of the tank! Good thing they're vegetarian!
#86
Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus Atrox)
#88
Grus Antigone
Kathryn Baylis 3 years ago (edited)
Grus is a constellation that looks like a bird. Not sure where the daughter of Oedipus comes into it, though.
#89
Lesser Spotted Eagle
#91
Fire Salamander
#92
Stone Loach
#93
Spangled Drongo
#96
Devil's Coach-Horse Beetle
Caroline Sinclair 3 years ago
I remember being terrified by these as a child: they can be huge.
#98
Sawfish
#102
Planthopper Nymph
#103
Zebra Shark (Stegostoma Fasciatum)
#104
Bullock
#105
Oriental Ratsnake (Dhaman)
Glen MacLeod 3 years ago
If scientists named these wonderful creatures the names would be in Latin. I’m sure they all have Latin names, most of the daily use names are likely from the humans living near them.
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What do you think ?
Kise Miarse 3 years ago
Many of these names were rather appropriate and to the point, I would say. 😉
Mallory McCartney 3 years ago
Some of these make sense. Others are most likely based on the animal's genetics, foreign terms, and the difference in language that far back in time.
Goth mouse (they/them) 3 years ago
Theres an Australian animal called a Dibbler, some tropical rats have strange names too like Lovely haired rat, Sunburned rat and Nonsense rat 😄
Kise Miarse 3 years ago
Many of these names were rather appropriate and to the point, I would say. 😉
Mallory McCartney 3 years ago
Some of these make sense. Others are most likely based on the animal's genetics, foreign terms, and the difference in language that far back in time.
Goth mouse (they/them) 3 years ago
Theres an Australian animal called a Dibbler, some tropical rats have strange names too like Lovely haired rat, Sunburned rat and Nonsense rat 😄
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