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Biologists join hilarious Twitter rant about nonsensical common animal names

Blue-footed boobies anyone? #StupidCommonNames

Photo of Cynthia McKelvey

Cynthia McKelvey

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Biologists are a cheeky lot, and their latest Twitter joke is a doozy. They’re making fun of animals with nonsensical common names.

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Common names are exactly what they sound like: The names of animals people are more familiar with, different from their scientific or species name. For example, a cat’s common name is a cat, obviously. Its scientific name is Felis catus. Only sometimes the names we call creatures are pretty silly. 

Shark researcher and blogger David Shiffman decided to get the ball rolling on this latest hashtag on Tuesday afternoon.

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And in the last couple hours, the hilarious tweets have swelled to a cacophony. Here’s a list of our favorites.

https://twitter.com/mcmsharksxx/status/638815927216115712

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https://twitter.com/mcmsharksxx/status/638817190473367553

https://twitter.com/mcmsharksxx/status/638818007507070976

https://twitter.com/Baroque97/status/638818221236224001

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https://twitter.com/r_heisman/status/638818970540216320

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https://twitter.com/jgold85/status/638822070734864384

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https://twitter.com/afewbugs/status/638823297052901376

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https://twitter.com/afewbugs/status/638824086341201924

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https://twitter.com/RosemaryMosco/status/638824122147975168

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https://twitter.com/jgold85/status/638825184514846720

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https://twitter.com/mcmsharksxx/status/638825348109463552

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https://twitter.com/afewbugs/status/638826077599563776

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https://twitter.com/soundslikepuget/status/638826570883334144

https://twitter.com/SFriedScientist/status/638826622527799297

https://twitter.com/mcmsharksxx/status/638827968807079936

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https://twitter.com/HaxleyVigil/status/638828600574083076

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Image via Marshmallowbunnywabbit/Wikimedia (CC BY 3.0)

 
The Daily Dot