Quiz: Can you guess the scientific names of these well-known animals?
Latin names are an essential part of understanding the natural world, but, with a couple of exceptions, they’ve failed to gain a foothold in the public consciousness. Most people know that humans are homo sapiens, but beyond that, nada.
It’s a shame really, because the world of latin names can be fabulously surreal. There are animals named after naturalists (attenborougharion rubicundus), species named after Star Wars characters (the trilobite, han solo), and those seemingly named purely to annoy those foolish enough to type them (parastratiosphecomyia stratiosphecomyioides).
Even the most familiar creatures can have names that are just plain weird. We’ve compiled a quiz featuring some of our best-known and best-loved animals, alongside a couple of wild cards that are neither. We wish you luck.
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