By Charlie Lyon
Published: Thursday, 28 November 2024 at 18:29 PM
Chicken turtle, sarcastic fringehead and pleasing fungus beetle – meet 10 animals with the weirdest names
It’s often the scientific name for an animal that gets us confused and befuddled, with its unfamiliar order of letters and challenging pronunciation.
Common names tend to be familiar, requiring just common sense to be able to deduce from it information about an animal. White-tailed deer, or barn own, for example.
But some common names leave us in a state of wonder, questioning just what exactly was going through the mind of the person creating the moniker.
Here are 10 animals with weird, funny or downright silly common names.
10 animals with the weirdest names
Chicken turtle
It may be more common to see a chicken than a chicken turtle (Deirochelys reticularia) on your Sunday dinner plate, but people did used to eat these reptiles that hail from southeastern United States.
The chicken turtle is apparently named so because of its long neck and grooved shell that features a network of yellowish lines on a brownish background.
Rather than pecking around on dry land for grubs, they love quiet, shallow waters where they’ll dine on crustaceans, tadpoles, fish and aquatic insects and plants.
Sarcastic fringehead
No, it’s not the name of Parlophone Records’ new rock band signing. The sarcastic fringehead (Neoclinus blanchardi) is a saltwater fish that lives in the mild coastal waters of California and Mexico’s Baja California.
The name ‘fringehead’ is said to refer to the floppy fronds of tissue that fall over the fish’s eyes, while ‘sarcastic’ is thought either to describe the animal’s cynical closed-mouth expression, or to derive from the Greek word sarkázein, which means ‘to tear flesh’.
And it is a quarrelsome creature of the sea, quite fearless and ready to charge anything that approaches its burrow.
Screaming hairy armadillo
For something with such a fearsome name, the screaming hairy armadillo (Chaetophractus vellerosus) is actually very endearing. The ‘scream’ is more of a yelp, a noise they are prone to make when handled.
It’s a burrowing animal found in the central and southern parts of South America, with more hair than other species of armadillo.
The pink fairy armadillo, which almost made this list, also has an impressive amount of fur that lines its rose-hued armour.
Hellbender
There are lots of theories on how Cryptobranchus alleganiensis, an amphibious, nocturnal salamander native to North America, got its hellbender name. One is that it’s intent on always returning to hell – it lives under large rocks or boulders that are partially buried in cold, fast-flowing streams.
It’s also known as the snot otter, because of the mucus it produces through its skin, protection against bacteria and parasites.
Pleasing fungus beetle
Whether or not these black-and-orange and black-and-reddish-orange beetles are pleasing to you is completely subjective. However, it’s said that the family name, Erotylidae, comes from the Greek word erōtylos, meaning “darling” or “sweetheart”. Other sources say the beetles are ‘pleasing’ as they are harmless to humans.
One thing is for sure, and that is the “fungus” part of their name comes from their tendency to feed on fungi, such as mushrooms.
Red-cheeked cordon-bleu
Don’t fear, just because this beautiful bird’s name features the French words cordon bleu, usually used to denote a high standard of cooking, doesn’t mean people like to serve them up for lunch.
The French term originally related to L’Ordre des Chevaliers du Saint Esprit, an exclusive order created by King Henry III, which included royalty. They were awarded with the Cross of the Holy Spirit, which hung from a blue ribbon, and gatherings involved huge banquets.
The red-cheeked cordon-bleu (Uraeginthus bengalus) is named so because of its red cheeks and blue markings on its chest, which resemble the blue ribbon.
Proboscis monkey
As if it’s not bad enough having such a bizarre-looking appearance, people go and name you after your most peculiar feature.
The proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus) has been named after its sizeable nose, which has given it a reputation of being one of the world’s ugliest animals.
Proboscis translates as long, protruding nose. But, although we find it a startling characteristic, in the animal kingdom bigger is better. The outsized organ creates an echo chamber to amplify a call – useful for intimidating rivals and impressing females.
Paradoxical frog
The paradox here is that the regular-sized frog (Pseudis paradoxa) from South America, actually develops from a huge tadpole. Also known as the shrinking frog, in the early stages of its life it can measure up to 27cm long, but then metamorphoses into a frog about one quarter of that size.
The shrinking could be down to the fact this tadpole grows for longer than other species, and is well-developed when it undergoes metamorphosis. The loss of the tail accounts for loss of length.
Yellow crazy ants
Tawny crazy ants, longhorn crazy ants, yellow crazy ants (Anoplolepis gracilipes)… they are all types of ants with unusually long legs and antennae with 12 segments.
Despite the name, they are not deranged. They are clever enough at breeding to be considered a pest in the US. Their name comes from their erratic movements – they look for food in a zigzag pattern and will often travel long distances from their nests.
Striped pyjama squid
No one likes to be seen popping to the shops in their pyjamas, let alone have it leading to a new nickname. Unfortunately for the striped pyjama squid (Sepioloidea lineolata), its unshapely body and striped colourings have caused its nightware-inspired name.
It lives in the sand and mud habitats of shallow coastal waters in Australia.
Discover more
- 10 animals who sound like their names
- 10 animals with the wrong names
- Rude animal names: Try saying these to an under-10 without making them snigger