Naming an animal after Gollum or Beyoncé might seem funny, but the joke’s on us | Philip Hoare
Blame Carl Linnaeaus. The father of modern taxonomy started it all when - possibly mind-numbingly bored by the prospect of assigning Latin binomials (double-barrelled genus/species names) to every living species - he decided to have some fun with the blue whale. The larky Swede dubbed it Balaenoptera musculus - big-winged mouse. Hilarious, eh? Ever since, the conformities of scientific naming have produced in-jokes, excruciating puns and dodgy cultural references. Hence the latest, a new species of blind cave arachnid or harvestman from south-eastern Brazil has sent scientists to their much thumbed copies of the Lord of the Rings. Pale and rather elegant, Iandumoema smeagol refers to Smeagol, the hobbit who became the troglodytic, sibilant-voiced Gollum.
Related: When it comes to conservation, common names count | George C McGavin
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