So real life has been keeping me busy lately, and I have neglected this place somewhat. Things are still going to be a bit busy for me over the next couple of weeks, as I prepare to move towns, but hopefully once I'm set up in my new place, I'll have a bit more time to focus on getting things organised here.
In the meantime, it was my turn to organise and run the impromptu session at the latest meeting of the public speaking group I belong to. The task I gave them was this....
Imagine you are a brave explorer traveling through uncharted territory... swinging through vines deep in the jungle, or surfing sand dunes miles into the desert, or diving into the ocean's depths, or perhaps just searching your backyard with a magnifying glass... when all of a sudden you see something unusual, different or unfamiliar, and realise you've discovered a new creature, never before seen by human eyes. Your recent discovery has brought you fame, and tonight you are to stand before this gathering of curious fans and tell them about the species you discovered during your adventures.
Each member was then invited to come up and select a piece of paper from the bowl on the table at the front of the room. Each piece of paper had the scientific name of an organism (and an approximate pronunciation guide, as long latin names can be daunting for the best of us). They then had 90 seconds to tell us about their species. After their speech, I briefly told them what their organism really was. As you can imagine, this was a lot of fun and we were all in fits of laugher at various moments... Indeed it was difficult to read out some of the real descriptions of the species while keeping a straight face.
Although you weren't there to witness the things the other members of the public speaking group came up with, I still thought some of the species names and their descriptions might give you a good giggle :) And you might learn something new ;). Some I chose because they are funny, some I chose for other reasons. I also cannot guarantee my pronunciation guide is 100% correct - it was simply my attempt at how I would pronounce them - the focus of the evening was not on pronouncing them correctly. Anyway, Enjoy!!
- Chlorocebus tantalus (Chloro-see-bus tan-ta-lus)
I had to include this one because this monkey was the subject of my Master's thesis. It is widespread throughout West and Central Africa, where it feeds primarily on fruits. While they are important seed dispersers, they are considered a pest by many locals, as they like to help themselves to their crops.
- Apteryx australis (Ap-ter-rix aus-tra-lis)
The Southern Brown Kiwi. When New Zealand's early explorers first sent reports of the kiwi back to Europe, the people did not believe them. It was only once they were able to send some kiwi pelts back that they realised that such an usual bird really did exist.
A small furry fly found in Brazil. Its siblings are Pieza pi, Pieza rhea and Pieza deresistans. The taxonomist who named these flies apparently liked his pizza!
- Oedipus complex (Oh-dee-pus complex)
Also known as the Gamboa worm salamander, it is a species of lungless salamander, found from Costa rica through to Colombia and Ecuador.
- Carmenelectra shechisme (Car-men-ee-leck-tra she-kis-me)
A very small fossil fly found from Baltic amber. It was named after television, film and magazine personality, Carmen Elecktra. The taxonomist apparently explained his choice of name, saying "Both namesakes exemplify splendid somal (body) structure for their respective taxa. The species-group epithet (i.e the second part of the name) is an arbitrary combination of letters."
- Calponia harrisonfordi (Kal-pone-ee-a harrison-ford-eye)
A Californian spider discovered in 1993. Not much is known about it, but it is thought to eat other spiders. It was named after Harrison Ford to thank him for narrating a documentary for the Natural History Museum in London.
- Agathidium bushi (Ag-a-thid-ee-um bush-eye)
A beetle named after President George W. Bush. Bush's vice-president and defence secretary also got beetles named after them -
A. cheneyi and
A. rumsfeldi. To quote the
website, from which I discovered such beetles existed, "Admittedly, the beetles in question eat slime mould, which caused a few titters among taxonomists of a Democrat persuasion, but it is clearly an act of gross speciesism to criticise the dining habits of other organisms."
An Australian wasp, named by one Arnold Menke in 1977. Apparently, Menke described how, when he recieved a package from a colleague containing the insect specimens, he exclaimed, "Aha!" The name was also used for the number plate of Menke's car.
- La Cucaracha (La Koo-ka-ra-cha)
While la cucaracha is the Spanish word for cockroach, this is actually a species of moth. It was named for the Spanish folk song by the same name that became popular during the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920.
- Hebejeebie trifida (Hee-bee-jee-bee tri-fi-da)
A small native shrub, up to 20 cm tall found in Central Otago and Southland. It lives in alpine areas, in meltwater seepages below summer snow banks. (And related to the Hebe's, incase you were wondering).
- Balaenoptera musculus (Bay-leen-opt-er-a mus-cue-lus)
The largest species known to ever have lived on planet earth... the blue whale. The second part of the name - musculus could mean 'muscular', but can also be interpreted as 'little mouse'. Linneaus may well have known this and, given his sense of humour, may have intended the ironic double meaning.
- Mirza zaza (Mer-za za-za)
The northern giant mouse lemur which lives in the North Western dry forests of Madagascar. It is smaller than the closely related
M. coquereli, reflected by the name zaza, which is Malagasy for 'child'.
- Circus approximans (Cir-cus approx-ee-mans)
The Australasian harrier that is commonly observed feeding on roadkill on rural roads. It is named for the wide circular flight paths it uses when searching open country for its next meal.
- Euphoria herbacea (Euphoria herb-ae-see-ae)
Is a scarab beetle from North America that visits flowers to feed on nectar and pollen.
The Malayan free tailed bat is found in Malaysia and Indonesia. They are insectivorous, and are capable of agile flight manoeuvres rivaling those of insectivorous birds such as swallows.
- Piper nigrum (Pie-per nigh-grum)
Native to southern India, this is the black pepper plant. Its fruits have been used as a spice since antiquity and it is the world's most traded spice.
- Unicorn catleyi (Unicorn cat-ley-eye)
No, the mythical horse-like creature doesn't secretly exist!! This is actually the high mountain goblin spider. This spider lives in the high-altitude semi-desert regions of Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.
- Rhizophora mangle (Rye-zo-for-a mangle)
The red mangrove, a common estuarine plant in tropical and subtropical regions. In some regions, such as Florida, Lousiana and Texas it forms an important part of the coastal ecosystems, threatened by other invasive plants. Yet, in other regions, such as Hawaii, it has itself become an invasive pest.
- Onthophagus hippopotamus (On-tho-fay-gus hippo-pot-amus)
This is a dung beetle from Mexico, so its a little odd that it should be named after the hippopotamus from Africa. Perhaps the beetle is of a large size?
- Glycine max (Gly-cine max)
Is the soybean plant. Native to east Asia, the US is now both the biggest producer and the biggest consumer of soybean products.
- Chaos carolinensis (Chaos carol-eye-nen-sis)
A protozoan, or single celled organism, resembling a giant amoeba, up to 5 mm across. It feeds on bacteria, algae and even small multicellular invertebrates.
- Abra cadabra (Ab-ra ka-dab-ra)
A fossil clam that lived in the seas of the Middle East. Unfortunately, as it is now extinct, it appears it might not have the magical powers suggested by its name.
I hope you've had a good laugh, and gained a little appreciation for the vast array of intriguing organisms we share the planet with :)
* I gathered the species information on this page from wikipedia, curious taxonomy and oddee.com
