# Your favorite scientific names of plants/animals **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 20, 2014, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-scientific-names-of-plants-animals/696001 "2014-08-20T14:59:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![plankter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ba0ec/32.png) [@plankter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plankter)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-scientific-names-of-plants-animals/696001/101 "2021-10-20T22:08:28Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > generic coyote is “canis latrans”). And _Canis latrans_ itself is one of my favorites - it translates to “talking dog”. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-scientific-names-of-plants-animals/696001/102 "2021-10-20T22:22:29Z")
Have you ever heard a pack of coyotes out in the wild? They sound exactly like a pack of humans throwing a raucous party. Some mention should be made in this thread of the species for which the common name is the scientific name, such as Tyrannosaurus rex and Boa constrictor. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-scientific-names-of-plants-animals/696001/103 "2021-10-20T22:30:00Z")
_Amorphophallus titanum,_ commonly known as the corpse flower (and coincidentally my nom-de-porn back during the VHS era. AKA “the Virtuoso of Hurt-You-Oh-So.”) ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-scientific-names-of-plants-animals/696001/104 "2021-10-20T22:37:37Z")
I used to sell dawn redwoods (and everything else found in a large nursery). ---
**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:** [October 20, 2021, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-scientific-names-of-plants-animals/696001/105 "2021-10-20T23:50:16Z")
> _Cretapsara athanata_ , which means “the immortal Cretaceous spirit of clouds and water. > **[Tiny Crab Trapped in Amber Is a 100-Million-Year-Old Stunner](https://gizmodo.com/tiny-crab-trapped-in-amber-is-a-100-million-year-old-st-1847900826)** > > The crab’s antennae, large eyes, and fine hairs are all clearly visible. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2021, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-scientific-names-of-plants-animals/696001/106 "2021-10-21T05:32:22Z")
I always liked _phallus impudicus_, indecent penis, the scientific name for the common stinkhorn. _Mus musculus_ sounds like it should be able to beat you up and shake you down for your lunch money, but it’s just the common house mouse. But my favorite might be _dracorex hogwartsia_, the dragon king of Hogwarts, a dinosaur (pachycephalosaur) whose skull, well, looks like this: [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Dracorex_skull.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Dracorex_skull.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2021, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-scientific-names-of-plants-animals/696001/107 "2021-10-21T16:19:42Z")
I grow Amorphophallus konjac, which is not as massive as A. titanum but has a cooler name. It’s always an event when it blooms in spring and the sweet perfume of rotting flesh attracts pollinating flies. [![](https://i0.wp.com/blog.plantdelights.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Amorphophallus-konjac-PDN045-flowers.jpg) ](https://i0.wp.com/blog.plantdelights.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Amorphophallus-konjac-PDN045-flowers.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2021, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-scientific-names-of-plants-animals/696001/108 "2021-10-21T17:20:02Z")
The [Daisya Obriani](http://treatment.plazi.org/id/80116640FFBAFFBEFE5EFEACFF3A37F8) and [Theognete Maturini](http://publication.plazi.org/GgServer/html/03E88799FF8BFFD82CA2F9AA485E1CA0), two weevils named after the author and one main character of the [Aubrey-Maturin series of historical fiction](http://www.hmssurprise.org/naming-weevils). Though I don’t know which is the lesser of two weevils. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2021, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-scientific-names-of-plants-animals/696001/109 "2021-10-21T17:52:13Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Oh, and the cardinal: _Cardinalis cardinalis_ . I can’t believe I mentioned the cardinal and not the anhinga! _Anhinga anhinga_ the anhinga. There is also a pathogenic enteric bacterial organism that was given its species name in recognition of the microbiologist who discovered and studied the species. I won’t give specifics because he was working at a University in Europe, without a way to bring the organism back to the US for study. So he ate some. He returned to the US, was very ill, and cultured the organism from his profuse diarrhea. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2021, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-scientific-names-of-plants-animals/696001/110 "2021-10-24T05:08:44Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > There is also a pathogenic enteric bacterial organism that was given its species name in recognition of the microbiologist who discovered and studied the species. > > I won’t give specifics because he was working at a University in Europe, without a way to bring the organism back to the US for study. So he ate some. He returned to the US, was very ill, and cultured the organism from his profuse diarrhea. That reminds me of the Australian doctors who won a Nobel for discovering _Helicobacter pylori_ and its connection with gastritis and stomach ulcers: “To demonstrate _H. pylori_ caused gastritis and was not merely a bystander, [Barry] Marshall drank a beaker of _H. pylori_ culture. He became ill with nausea and vomiting several days later. An endoscopy 10 days after inoculation revealed signs of gastritis and the presence of _H. pylori_ . These results suggested _H. pylori_ was the causative agent. Marshall and [Robin] Warren went on to demonstrate antibiotics are effective in the treatment of many cases of gastritis.” > **[Helicobacter pylori | History](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicobacter_pylori#History)** > > Helicobacter pylori migrated out of Africa along with its human host circa 60,000 years ago. Recent research states that genetic diversity in H. pylori, like that of its host, decreases with geographic distance from East Africa. Using the genetic diversity data, researchers have created simulations that indicate the bacteria seem to have spread from East Africa around 58,000 years ago. Their results indicate modern humans were already infected by H. pylori before their migrations out of Afri H. p... ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2021, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-scientific-names-of-plants-animals/696001/111 "2021-10-24T05:19:32Z")
Oh, well, Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus, then. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2021, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-scientific-names-of-plants-animals/696001/112 "2021-10-24T12:18:53Z")
Sticking with birds with yellow on their heads, _Amazon’s ochrocephala_. Is the yellow crowned Amazon parrot. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2021, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-scientific-names-of-plants-animals/696001/113 "2021-10-24T14:20:40Z")
It’s upsetting to relate, but we should not overlook Ilex vomitoria\* (yaupon holly) and Chrysothamnus nauseosus (rabbitbrush). \*a widely grown shrub, especially in the southeastern U.S. Apparently the name is something of a misnomer - an infusion of the plant’s leaves contains caffeine and theobromine, but barfing is thought to be a common effect only if you overindulge on an empty stomach. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-scientific-names-of-plants-animals/696001.md?page=5)