Rating the Accuracy of Animal Names:
(I keep updating this list so check back later)
Marine Iguana: 1/10. They don’t allow lizards in the military
Honey Badger: 1/10. It’s not even made out of honey
Horny toad: 0/10. First of all, this is a lizard. Second of all, I couldn’t find one that was willing to have sex with me so they must not actually be all that horny
Crabeater seal: 1/10. They don’t even eat crabs. Felt uncomfortable asking about the other kind but I’d guess probably not those either
Comb jellyfish: 4/10. Doesn’t even have hair
Hammerhead shark: 10/10. Stop killing hammerhead sharks to make hammers
Paper nautilus: 1/10. Paper would get too soggy
Red Panda: 2/10. Not a panda. More orange than red
Jellyfish: 0/10. Not even a fish, but if it were, jelly would be one of the worst things to be made out of
Electric eel: 5/10. Not an eel. Shocking, I know
Blue footed booby: 2/10. My disappointment is immeasurable. Turns out this lying sack of shit is a just a stupid BIRD
Spiny lumpsucker: 8/10. Apparently this fish is named because it has spines AND a suction cup, not because it sucks on spiny lumps
Pleasing fungus beetle: 2/10. Why would fungus be pleased by a beetle eating it? It just worked so hard to grow
Chicken turtle: 1/10. This is just a regular turtle, there are no chickens involved
Red lipped batfish: 8/10. Not a bat. Does have red lips. Also looks incredibly sexy with that makeup on
Aye aye: 10/10. Does in fact, have two eyes
Blobfish: 10/10 out of water, 1/10 in water. The blobfish gets a bad rap, it only looks like a blob because some dickhead pulled it out of its natural habitat at the bottom of the fucking ocean. You’d look pretty weird if you switched places with them too
Dik dik: 5/10 if male, 0/10 if female. This one’s pretty self explanatory
Mountain chicken: 0/10. THIS IS A FUCKING FROG. STOP NAMING ANIMALS AFTER CHICKENS!
Peacock: 0/10. It pees out of a cloaca, not a cock. Technically it doesn’t even pee either
Monarch butterfly 1/10. They aren’t even one of the species of insects that has a queen, let alone understands the concept of monarchism
Cockatiel: 0/10. They do not have teal cocks
Monkey slug caterpillars: 1/10. These are neither slugs nor monkeys, nor are they some kind of fucked up monkey/slug hybrid. Terrible name all around, the only part they got right was caterpillar
Robin: 5/10. It’s a shame this bird has to resort to thievery but we all have to put worms on the table somehow
Alligator snapping turtle: 1/10. This is not an alligator, nor does it even have the fingers to snap with
Ground squirrel: 5/10. Please don’t grind squirrels
Axolotl: 0/10. Doesn’t ask a lot. Doesn’t ask anything at all
Sea robin: 7/10 This is what happens when the land robin goes pro. This creepy fuck evolved little fingers just to steal things. Is this where fish fingers come from?
Tasmanian devil: 8/10. Much like the christian devil, cool name and way more chill than most people give them credit for. Statistically speaking, they’re far from the deadliest player on the board, but they do have the strongest bite force and won’t hesitate to use it if provoked
Water deer: 7/10. No. This is a meat deer
Star nosed mole: 7/10. Name is somewhat misleading, nose merely star shaped, and not a mass of incandescent gas, a gigantic nuclear furnace
Paddlefish: 3/10. Too narrow to effectively be used as a paddle
Shoebill stork: 1/10. Not made of real shoes. Doesn’t pay bills either
Great white shark: 8/10. I’m inclined to agree for the most part but who came up with the name, David Duke?
Bioko drill: 0/10. At least the hammerhead shark looks like a hammer, this stupid monkey doesn’t even remotely resemble a drill
Hippo Tang: 0/10. That’s a fish, and hippos don’t even drink Tang
Bluejay: 3/10. Not actually blue, it’s just a trick of the light. I bet their real name probably isn’t even Jay either
Satanic Nightjar: 4/10. Should be called “slightly evil looking bird” instead
Tarantula hawk wasp: 1/10. Not a tarantula. Not a hawk. Starting to question if it’s even a wasp
Goblin shark: 10/10? Ever seen their jaw move? They sure are gobblin’
Nudibranch: 5/10. The nude part is accurate but it’s a sea slug, not a tree branch. Not even sure how you could possibly make that mistake
Mongoose: 0/10. No mon, it’s not a goose
Bison: 7/10. I just googled it, bison have more gay sex than straight sex so calling them bi is actually pretty accurate. Points removed because there are bidaughters too
Ram: 10/10. They sure do!
Mandrill: 2/10. They could probably be taught to use drills but I couldn’t find any research on this
Silver fox: 1/10. Silver is way too heavy of an element for an animal to be made of
Mayfly: 9/10 Yeah, they might
Fin whale: 10/10. Yep, whales have fins. Glad we cleared that up
Macaroni penguin: 1/10. They don’t eat macaroni
Horseshoe crab: 0/10. Not a crab. Doesn’t wear horseshoes either
Fangtooth: 10/10. Objectively I have to give it a 10 but this is the stupidest fucking name on the whole list. What’s next, knucklefist? Titboob?
Milkfish 1/10. If I go to your house and you offer me fish milk I’m fucking leaving
Little penguin: 10/10. Telling it exactly like it is
Spider monkey: 1/10. Was expecting a monkey with 8 limbs. Let down once again
Glass frog: 2/10. Not actually made out of glass
Hummingbird: 1/10. They can’t even hum
Centipede: 3-35.4/10. Depends on the species, very few actually have 100 legs
Millipede: 0.8-8/10. They have 800 legs at the most
Sockeye salmon: 1/10. Socks would make terrible eyes
Furry lobster: 10/10, 11/10 if that’s a fursuit
Flying fish: 4/10. Merely glides
Sailfish: 3/10. Doesn’t actually know how to sail
Blanket octopus: 2/10. Octopuses make terrible blankets
Cane Toad: 2/10. Can walk just fine without a cane
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If you've seen trivia posts going around, may have seen ones about the baculum, a bone in the penis whose purpose is to help support erections which is present in most placental mammals, including non-human apes, but which is conspicuously absent in humans.
Those posts typically don't go into why this is the case, which is fair enough, since the question is far from settled. However, there are a lot of hypotheses about it, and some of them are pretty fucking wild.
I think my personal favourite is the recently proposed idea that, since soft tissue injuries tend to heal more rapidly and completely than broken bones, a flexible and resilient boneless penis constitutes a reproductive advantage in situations where genital trauma is common, possibly as a result of the development of upright posture rendering the penis more prone to blunt encounters.
Like, imagine humanity's proto-hominid ancestors going "actually, bipedalism is great" and promptly getting whacked in the ding so much that it exerted evolutionary pressure on the morphology of the penis.
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Shellback Crabs: these crabs create their own shields out of clamshells; their semi-membranous bodies can be pressed into the contours of the shell, producing a suction mechanism that holds the shell in place
The members of this genus (Hypoconcha) have a series of unique adaptations that facilitate this kind of camouflage behavior. Many of the Dromiidae crabs (e.g. hermit crabs, sponge crabs, shellback crabs, etc.) are equipped with a specialized pair of legs that enables the crab to hold a shell, sea sponge, and/or ascidian against their body, but shellback crabs also have a flexible, semi-membranous body that can be tucked more firmly into the contours of a bivalve shell, producing a suction mechanism that keeps the shell firmly locked in place.
The body of the shellback crab is also covered in a very fine layer of hair-like structures called setae, and when the crab presses itself against the shell, these membranous "hairs" can take on an almost translucent appearance, particularly around the margins of the crab's body.
I recently posted some photos/info about some of the crabs in the genus Lamarckdromia (which belongs to the same family) and as I was doing the background research for that post, I was just kind of mesmerized by all of these weirdly adorable crabs that seem to exist within the Dromiidae family tree. Each genus has its own unique adaptations that allow the crabs to use specific materials for camouflage -- some of them use living sponges, clamshells, ascidians, etc.
And I could not stop laughing at the little faces on these crabs. They've all got the same bemused/indignant expression...as if some random asshole has just walked up to them, shoved them over, and announced to the entire ocean that there's a crab hiding beneath that disguise; as if that actually happens to them quite a lot, and they're getting really sick of it.
Sources & More Info:
Crustaceana Monographs: Comparison of the Shell-Carrying Behaviors of Desmodromia, Conchoecetes, and Hypoconcha (the relevant info is on page 191)
South Carolina Department of Natural Resources: Shellback Crabs and their Larval Stages (PDF)
South Carolina Public Radio: Shellback Crabs
Again, I don't normally feature crustaceans on my blog...but I really couldn't resist this one.
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