Somehow, someone finds a new animal, and they get to name it something silly. Most animals have very funny and silly name identity either as a nickname or main name. However, this well-curated list is our pick for the top 25 funny animal names on the planet so far.
1. Agra Vation
Agra beetles are tiny, arboreal insects found in the Neotropics. This precise species’ name recalls how difficult it is to find out anything more about it. They were discovered in 1983. These beetles are one of the hundreds of species in the genus.
Moreover, other species are named ‘Agra Cadabra’ (Ag-rah kah-dab-rah),’ Agra phobia’ (Ag-rah fo-bee-ah) and even ‘Agra Schwarzenegger’, named after the actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
2. Ah ha Wasp
According to studies, on discovering an entirely new genus, the entomologist Arnold Menke explained, “Aha!” To which his colleague doubtfully replied, “ha”.
This commitment to scientific rigour and consistency is what makes taxonomists so well respected in the scientific world. The name was also utilised for Menke’s car’s licence plate, “AHA HA.”
3. Shovelnose Guitarfish
The shovelnose guitarfish, Rhinobatos productus, is a ray, which inhabits warm waters off the Gulf of California. Its name comes from its rather long, pointed nose and flat guitar-shaped body. They were first considered to be a species of shark because they have features of both sharks and rays.
4. Sarcastic Fringehead
The sarcastic fringehead is a species of blenny, which spends much of its time in its ocean-floor dens. The sarcastic fringehead is a species of blenny, which spends much of its time in its ocean-floor dens.
5. Boops Boops
Boops comes from an ancient Greek word meaning “cow eye”. These cute little fellas occupy waters off the coast of
Europe and Africa are thought to be a rare example of a vertebrate hermaphrodite.
6. Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla
The Western gorilla is a gorilla by name in both genus and species, which isn’t so uncommon, as we’ve already seen. The lowland subspecies, however, is differentiated from its closest relative, the Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli) with the addition of a third iteration of the name.
7. Clanga Clanga
These are very serious and vulnerable raptor species, which hunt wetland prey between their migratory points of Eastern Europe, South Asia, and East Africa. The name comes from the Greek Klangos, with which Aristotle described as “a kind of eagle”.
8. Verae Peculya
‘Verae peculya’ is a species of parasitoid wasp in the Braconidae family. There are around 17,000 recognized species and many thousands more undescribed. That’s why we can find virtually no real interesting information on this ‘very peculiar’ wasp.
9. Satanic Leaf-tailed Gecko
The satanic leaf-tailed gecko is one of the smallest leaf-tailed gecko species. It has a horned head, red eyes and a tail with notches that help it mimic the look of decaying leaves.
They get their name from its unique horned head and red eyes. The mouth is also a bright orange colour, adding to the effect of this tiny lizard.
10. Dik-dik
Last on our list, a dik-dik is the name of any 4 species of small antelope that live in the bushlands of eastern and southern Africa. Their hilariously childish name comes from the odd dik sound that female dik-diks whistle through their noses when they are scared or threatened.
