Nutty Nomenclature
All species of organism are given their own specific name by the taxonomist who first describes them. Every now and again the taxonomists allow themselves to have a little bit of fun. This is our guide to some more mischievously named species.
Name: Aaadonta and Zyzzyxdonta
Don’t get it? Designed to be the first and last entries in any taxonomic list of snails. Crrr-azy!
What are they? Two genera of snails in the family Endodontidae. I don't quite know how it's related, but endodontics is the dental specialty that deals with diseases of the inside of teeth.
Where are they found? Across the Pacific islands.
When were they first named? 1976.
Who deserves the credit? American snail researcher Alan Solem who served as curator of molluscs at the Chicago Field Museum from 1957 until his death in 1990.
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Is there a picture? Sadly, a long and complicated search got me nowhere, so instead I give you Brian from the Magic Roundabout. There are nine species in the genus Aaadonta and only one, that we can find mention of, species of Zyzzyxdonta. Neither, however can claim to be either first or last in the taxonomic alphabet. There's a genus of orchid that's called simply Aa, whilst a genus of hydrozoans - animals related to jellyfish - takes the title of final entry in any dictionary with the name Zyzzyzus. Check out some other weird species names here.
Null's other regular features:
Monday: Phunny Phobias
Wednesday: Doctor Doctor
Thursday: Peculiar Periodicals
Friday: End of week timewasters
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