A couple of weeks ago, I went to the American Museum of Natural History in hopes of seeing their "Mythical Creatures" exhibit. It was sold out, alas, but I then wandered the halls enjoying the many animal exhibits, including the wonderful names and physiognomies of some of the creatures. I offer these now in hopes they will bring a little natural, nomenclatural, polysyllabic delight to your day:
- Bloodbelly Comb Jelly
- Cookie-Cutter Shark (a truly creepy but cool fish -- read the link to find out why)
- Stoplight Loosejaw (also awesome)
- Black-Blotched Porcupinefish
- False Cleanerfish
- Juvenile Snook
- Sheepshead Seabream
- Tripodfish (check out the picture -- it's one of those creatures that proves that if God is the Creator, he has a sense of humor)
- Powderblue Surgeonfish
- Jericho Worms (fascinating and weird)
- Stonechat
- Eurasian Wryneck
- Alpine Accentor
- Common Siskin
- Yellow-Hooded Wagtail
- Ruddy Shelduck
- Whooper Swan
- Great Bustard
- Black-Faced Cuckoo Shrike
- Superb Lyrebird
- Crimson Rosella
- Glossy Drongo
- Nkulenga Wood Rail
- White-Bearded Bulbul
- Lemon-Rumped Tinkerbird
- Cameroon Sombre Greenbul
- Variable Sunbird
- Fiscal Shrike (always appears at tax season)
- Rattling Cisticola
- Spectacled Antipitta
- Broad-Billed Motmot
- Cinnamon-Bellied Ground Tyrant
- Scale-Throated Earthcreeper
- Greater Yellowlegs
- Lesser Yellowlegs
- Pectoral Sandpiper
- Pomarine Jaeger
- Common Stilt
- Bufflehead
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LOL, I bet there are a lot of middle school teachers who are convinced their class is made up of juvenile snooks.
ReplyDeleteGlossy Drongo!!
ReplyDelete*rolls about in laughter!*
I kinda think I know the source of D. Adam's wicked wit now :D
~Nomadica
Those sea creatures have nothing on the cymothoa exigua.
ReplyDeleteLemon-Rumped Tinkerbird! Made my morning.
ReplyDeleteScale-Throated Earthcreeper sounds way too creepy to be a cute little bird...
Love these! For what is worth, I was very underwhelmed and disappointed at the Mythical Creatures exhibit.
ReplyDeleteButterfly names are fun too:
ReplyDeleteLooper Moth
Cobweb Skipper
Confused Cloudy Wing
Blind-Eyed Sphinx
Skippers
Hairstreaks
Geometers
Metalmarks
and Dotted Angle of Wood.
I've ruminated over these polysyllabic delights all weekend. Thanks for the tasty brain treat.
ReplyDeleteThe sadly dorky truth is that I've sought out and seen a lot of those birds...
ReplyDeleteThis seems like such a masterful name that I must find out what it looks like:
ReplyDeleteCinnamon-Bellied Ground Tyrant
A ground TYRANT!? Yes!