Wormy Slimy Stuff

musings on unloved biodiversity

Getting a leg up on the naming of things.

Official descriptions of species and other taxonomic groups include what’s called an etymology section. That is, an explanation of the name chosen by the author. Originally these names were mostly supposed to be descriptive, like Phyllidia polkadotsa. Sometimes the names refer to a place, like Helobdella nununununojensis (from a Quechua placename Ñuñuñuñuñoj). They can also

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