Latin animal names: The top ten

Your support helps us to tell the story

Support Now

Find out moreClose

As your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.

Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn't have the resources to challenge those in power.

Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November election

Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

I have not fully recovered from the discovery that the proper Latin name of the western lowland gorilla is 'Gorilla gorilla gorilla'. Here are 10 more, inspired by 'The Naming of the Shrew: A Curious History of Latin Names' by John Wright, published this month by Bloomsbury.

1. Agra katewinsletae A carabid beetle.

2. Chaeropus ecaudatus Australian bandicoot. The name means pig-footed creature without a tail, but it has one. The specimen on which the name was based probably lost its tail to a predator.

3. Aachenosaurus multidens Discovered in Aachen, Belgium, what were believed to be the teeth of a dinosaur proved to be pieces of petrified wood. Gerard Smets quit palaeontology in embarrassment.

4. Scalopus aquaticus North American eastern mole. Scalopus means "digs with its feet", but it is far from aquatic. Carl Linnaeus's specimen was labelled as found in water. Presumably it had drowned.

5. Heteropoda davidbowie Endangered spider. My own nomination.

6. Paradisaea apoda Greater bird of paradise. Apoda means "no feet". The birds were first described from skins sent to Europe, without the feet, and early naturalists assumed that they had none.

7. Psephophorus terrypratchetti A fossil turtle – what else could it be?

8. Albunea groeningi A pale yellow sand crab named after the Simpsons creator Matt Groening.

9. Aha ha Arnold Menke, an Australian entomologist, exclaimed "Aha!" on opening a package from a colleague to find a new species of wasp. It is also a palindrome.

10. Apopyllus now The generic name Apopyllus was established in the late 19th century, but was used for a spider in 1984, five years after Coppola's film Apocalypse Now was released.

Next week: Abbreviations. For example, A and B the C of D – above and beyond the call of duty.

Coming soon: Odd pub names. Send your suggestions, and ideas for future Top 10s, to top10@independent.co.uk

John Rentoul's 'Listellany: A Miscellany of Very British Top 10s, from Politics to Pop' (Elliott & Thompson, £9.99; e-book £4.99) is out now