{"id":42773,"date":"2024-10-14T12:14:39","date_gmt":"2024-10-14T10:14:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aed09615-d06d-48d4-819d-63e9daed9345"},"modified":"2024-10-14T13:27:42","modified_gmt":"2024-10-14T11:27:42","slug":"10-animals-with-the-wrong-names-discover-misleading-monikers-and-curious-cases-of-mistaken-identity","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/10-animals-with-the-wrong-names-discover-misleading-monikers-and-curious-cases-of-mistaken-identity\/","title":{"rendered":"10 animals with the wrong names: Discover misleading monikers and curious cases of mistaken identity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Common names for animals are often easier to remember than their Latin names, but they can often lead to confusion. Here are 10 animals with some very misleading names. <\/p>

By Leoma Williams\n <\/p>

Published: Monday, 14 October 2024 at 10:14 AM<\/p>

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Animals tend to have not one, but at least two names: a common name, and a scientific name.<\/strong><\/p>

Formal scientific names, although sometimes humorous or plain silly (see animals named after celebrities<\/a> and Star Wars <\/a>characters), give you information about the species in question. <\/p>

The first part tells you the genus (a taxonomic group) the species belongs to, and the second tells you the specific name that distinguishes the animal within the genus. In doing so, scientific names imply biological, genetic relationships between similarly named animals. They tend to give useful and accurate information.<\/p>

In contrast, common names – due to confusion, ignorance, or physical similarity between only distantly related species- may be anything but useful and accurate. They can end up being quite misleading. Here are ten of our favourite animal misnomers.<\/p>

Animals with misleading names<\/h2>

Honey bear (Potos flavus)<\/i><\/h3>

The honey bear<\/a> or \u2018kinkajou\u2019 is doubly misleading. Not only is in fact a member of the raccoon<\/a> family, but it doesn’t even really eat honey<\/a>! Thought to be given the name because they occasionally raid bee\u2019s nests, and may use their long extensible tongues to lick up honey, honey bears are actually primarily frugivorous (fruit-eating), with as much as 90% of their diet consisting of ripe fruits. Why they have been called bears is harder to know, because there is not much resemblance!<\/p>

Kinkajou (Potos flavus), Central or South America. \u00a9 Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Red panda (Ailurus fulgens<\/i>)<\/h3>

Another mistaken \u2018bear\u2019 is the red panda (of Master Shifu fame in the Kung-Fu Panda<\/em> films). Red pandas are not pandas at all, or at least not closely related to the giant panda<\/a> (which is a member of the bear family). They are instead the only living members of their own taxonomic family, Ailuridae, <\/i>and are more closely related to raccoons, skunks, and badgers<\/a>. The name \u2018panda\u2019 is however thought to come from the Nepali word \u2018ponya,\u2019 which means bamboo<\/a> or plant-eating animal, which is perfectly accurate.<\/p>

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A red panda in the treetops. \u00a9 Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Whale shark<\/a> (Rhincodon typus<\/i>)<\/h3>

Names can often lead to confusion when they are given in relation to a physical characteristic, such as size, rather than in reference to a familial relationship. This is true of the whale shark<\/a>, which is not a whale, just as big as some. This species of shark (and therefore a fish) has been known to grow up to 18.8 m in length, comparable to a sperm whale, and is the largest non-cetacean (the whale and dolphin group)<\/a> animal in the world. As well as size, it is similar to whales in another regard, being a filter feeder in a manner similar to baleen whales.<\/p>

Learn more about this fascinating fish in our whale shark guide<\/a>.<\/p>

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Whale sharks, the world’s largest fish, are native to tropical seas around the world. \u00a9 Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Guinea pig (Cavia porcellus<\/i>)<\/h3>

Being neither from Guinea nor a pig, it is hard to understand how these little rodents got their misleading name. One theory is that they were brought to England via Guinea, leading people to believe that they were from there. Another is that they were sold for the price of a guinea – although this does not check out, as the name predates the use of the coin. As for pig, there isn’t really even a physical resemblance for it to be attributed to, although the noises they make are perhaps a little similar?<\/p>

It is not just the English that found some likeness to pigs, however, with reference being made in multiple languages. In German, they are known as Meerschweinchen<\/i> (“little sea pig”) and in Polish \u015bwinka morska<\/i> (\u201csea pig\u201d).<\/p>

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A guinea pig. \u00a9 Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>

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