# Most metal binomial names **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 19, 2019, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-metal-binomial-names/831347 "2019-03-19T01:20:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-metal-binomial-names/831347/1 "2019-03-19T01:20:48Z")
There’s a (relatively\*) pint-sized tyrannosaur fossil that’s been in the science news lately, and because it’s a precursor to the more famous Rex, it’s been given the name _Moros intrepidus_. That translates, apparently, to “ **harbinger of doom** ”. Let _that_ name sink in a moment. Of course, “ **tyrant lizard king** ” is pretty hardcore itself. And among still-extant animals, there’s the untoppable _Vampyroteuthis infernalis_, “ **vampire squid from hell** ”. This is objectively the most metal name of any living creature, and you can fight me on this. \*seriously, everyone is calling it “tiny” and “deer-sized”. I don’t know about you, but if I came face to face with merely “deer-sized” tyrannosaur, I wouldn’t be thinking _thank goodness, it’s only a hundred seventy pounds_. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-metal-binomial-names/831347/2 "2019-03-19T01:31:34Z")
That first binomial actually translates to “[fearless](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/intrepidus) [harbinger of doom](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Moros)”. Which is certainly pretty god-damn metal. > [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > \*seriously, everyone is calling it “tiny” and “deer-sized”. I don’t know about you, but if I came face to face with merely “deer-sized” tyrannosaur, I wouldn’t be thinking _thank goodness, it’s only a hundred seventy pounds_. Yeah, a full-sized _T. rex_ might figure we aren’t big enough to bother with… ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-metal-binomial-names/831347/3 "2019-03-19T02:17:11Z")
The Grizzly Bear is Horribilis Ursus Arctos. “Ursus” means bear in Latin, “Arctos” means bear in Greek, so it is “Horrible bear bear”. The Eurasion Brown Bear is Ursus Arctos Arctos, so it is named “Bear Bear Bear.” All the bear. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-metal-binomial-names/831347/4 "2019-03-19T02:25:24Z")
My male Siamese is named ‘Bear-Bear’, he’s pretty terrifying when I wake up and there’s one claw pointed at my baby blues. Accckkk. Every. Morning. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-metal-binomial-names/831347/5 "2019-03-19T02:32:08Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > The Eurasion Brown Bear is Ursus Arctos Arctos, so it is named “Bear Bear Bear.” All the bear. I’m pretty sure I noted this in some previous thread years ago, but the full scientific name of the [Western lowland gorilla](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_lowland_gorilla) (a subspecies of the western gorilla) is _Gorilla gorilla gorilla_. (Not so much “metal” as “utterly charmingly goofy”.) ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-metal-binomial-names/831347/6 "2019-03-19T04:07:19Z")
_Gorilla meghilla vendere_ ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-metal-binomial-names/831347/7 "2019-03-19T04:48:51Z")
I like the scientific name of the highly venomous Bushmaster: _Lachesis mutus._ Lachesis is the Fate who measures out the length of your thread of life, while mutus means silent. So the name means “silent bringer of death.” ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-metal-binomial-names/831347/8 "2019-03-19T04:50:30Z")
> [@Hatchie](#): > > _Gorilla meghilla vendere_ Mr. Melvin Peebles might take issue with this. After all Magilla Gorilla is for sale. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-metal-binomial-names/831347/9 "2019-03-19T08:21:28Z")
- Osedax mucofloris \*- bone-eating snot-flower. OK, maybe more Punk than Metal… _[Eucritta melanolimnetes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucritta)_ is the Creature from The Black Lagoon. Unfortunately, the prawn genuses _Lucifer_ and _Belzebub_ have pretty mundane species names. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-metal-binomial-names/831347/10 "2019-03-19T09:02:48Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-metal-binomial-names/831347/11 "2019-03-19T09:05:54Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > I’m pretty sure I noted this in some previous thread years ago, but the full scientific name of the [Western lowland gorilla](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_lowland_gorilla) (a subspecies of the western gorilla) is _Gorilla gorilla gorilla_. (Not so much “metal” as “utterly charmingly goofy”.) I wonder if the scientific name for the buffalo is _Buffalo buffalo buffalo_? If it were, we could say: Buffalo _Buffalo buffalo buffalo_ Buffalo _Buffalo buffalo buffalo_ buffalo buffalo Buffalo _Buffalo buffalo buffalo_. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-metal-binomial-names/831347/12 "2019-03-19T10:20:55Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I wonder if the scientific name for the buffalo is _Buffalo buffalo buffalo_? Curiously, the plains bison, which are often called buffalo, has the binomial name of _Bison bison bison_. > [@](#): > > If it were, we could say: > > Buffalo _Buffalo buffalo buffalo_ Buffalo _Buffalo buffalo buffalo_ buffalo buffalo Buffalo _Buffalo buffalo buffalo_. That wouldn’t read quite as well with the appropriate substitution. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-metal-binomial-names/831347/13 "2019-03-19T11:25:19Z")
_Mus musculus_ sounds like it ought to be a pretty ripped critter, but _musculus_ is actually the diminutive of _mus_, so it’s just ‘mouse, tiny mouse’. Maybe shoegazer? Twee? ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-metal-binomial-names/831347/14 "2019-03-19T12:14:39Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > The Grizzly Bear is Horribilis Ursus Arctos. “Ursus” means bear in Latin, “Arctos” means bear in Greek, so it is “Horrible bear bear”. Nitpick: you have the name in the wrong order (and capitalized it wrong) - it’s _Ursus arctos horribilis_. (Same translation, though.) For extant (and non-dubious) species, it’s hard to beat _V. infernalis_, but there’s some good ones among the extinct dinosaurs, like _Stygimoloch spinifer_, the Thorny Devil of the River Styx. (Which may or may not have been juvenile Pachycephalosaurus, which is a much less metal name.) ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-metal-binomial-names/831347/15 "2019-03-19T12:44:57Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > That first binomial actually translates to “[fearless](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/intrepidus) [harbinger of doom](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Moros)”. Which is certainly pretty god-damn metal. Huh, _Science News_ only said “harbinger of doom”. Apparently they have something against “cool”. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-metal-binomial-names/831347/16 "2019-03-19T12:53:23Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > For extant (and non-dubious) species, it’s hard to beat _V. infernalis_, but there’s some good ones among the extinct dinosaurs, like _Stygimoloch spinifer_, the Thorny Devil of the River Styx. (Which may or may not have been juvenile Pachycephalosaurus, which is a much less metal name.) Which reminds me, there’s also _Dracorex hogwartsia_ (“Dragon King of Hogwarts”, so maybe fantasy metal), another one that might be some developmental stage of a Pachycephalosaurus. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-metal-binomial-names/831347/17 "2019-03-19T13:14:53Z")
I submit \* Acledra nazgul.\* ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-metal-binomial-names/831347/18 "2019-03-19T13:52:53Z")
[_Beezebufo ampinga_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beelzebufo). ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-metal-binomial-names/831347/19 "2019-03-19T14:10:46Z")
I just heard this one the other day. It’s kind of the opposite of metal, though. A turkey vulture is _Cathartes aura_, purifier of the area. I guess it’s better for the birds than anything else it could have been, like “cleaner of death” or something. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-metal-binomial-names/831347/20 "2019-03-19T14:14:28Z")
Another punk one. _Sordes pilosa_, the first pterosaur with hair to be discovered, means “hairy filth.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-metal-binomial-names/831347.md?page=2)