“No zoologist should propose a name that, to his knowledge, gives offense on any grounds.”

– The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature

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If you discovered a delicate, lemon-scented jonquil flower previously unknown to science, would you saddle it with a name like assoanus? Or designate whole genera as the Fartulum, or the Fukuia? What kind of Peniculus asinus would do that? It reminds me of parents surnamed Balls who’ve named their sons Claude. What were they thinking?

Colon grossum – a beetle, cf. Colon monstrosum

Didymella fuckeliana – a fungus

Dolichuranus primaevus – an extinct mammal-like Triassic reptile

Dorcus titanus – the giant stag beetle

Eremobates inyoanus – an arachnid native to California

Fartulum nubulosum – a marine snail

Fukuia – a genus of Japanese snails

Narcissus assoanus – a jonquil flower

Peniculus asinus – a marine copepod

Turdus migratorius – the American robin

Pinus contorta – a pine tree, cf. Pinus rigida

Pison eu – a South American wasp

Texananus delicatus – a leafhopper