my-server
← Wiki

List of short species names

Living organisms are known by scientific names. These binomial names can vary greatly in length, and some can be very short; genus or species names composed of only one letter are not allowed by any of the nomenclature codes, but any combination of two letters and above can be valid if it has not been previously used. This list of shortest species names lists the scientific binomials with the fewest letters. The longest scientific species names can be found in the list of long species names.

4 letters

  • Ia io <small>Thomas, 1902</small> – Family Vespertilionidae. The great evening bat is the largest vespertilionid bat, reaching a wingspan of just over half a metre. It occurs in tropical Asia where it lives in limestone caves. Apart from being the shortest scientific name of a living organism (and one of the shortest possible, since anything below 4 letters would not be allowed), it also has the peculiarity of being composed only of vowels. The genus Ia (ἰά) is an ancient Greek term for 'voice', 'cry' or 'shout'; the specific name has commonly been assumed to refer to Io, a woman of classical mythology, viewed as ";" but chiropterologist Thomas Griffiths has theorised that it is instead to be understood as the Latin interjection ĭō, meaning 'an exclamation of joy', and that therefore the correct English translation of the binomial would be 'Shout hurrah!'; Griffiths bolsters this argument by pointing out that Oldfield Thomas subsequently named another two species with the same word (Rhogeessa io and Balantiopteryx io), thus creating a succession of "three hurrahs", and proposes that this would be Thomas's way of celebrating his induction into the Royal Society in 1901, despite having no formal training.
  • †Yi qi <small>Xu et al., 2015</small> – Family Scansoriopterygidae. This was a Jurassic theropod dinosaur that had an elongated finger which supported a patagium, akin to those of bats, which enabled the animal to glide between trees. The name is derived from Mandarin Chinese ( and , pronounced "ee chee"), meaning "strange wing".

5 letters

  • †Ano da and †Ano si - family Liberiblattinidae. Two fossil cockroaches from the Jurassic of Mongolia and Kazakhstan, respectively. The genus name Ano comes from áno, meaning "yes" in Slovak (it was described by a Slovak scientist). The specific epithet for the first is from da, Russian for "yes"; so the complete name means "Yes yes", but also "refers to ¥νoδoς (anodos): an electrode through which conventional current flows into a polarised electrical device." The epithet for the second comes from Slovak si, meaning "you are", so the complete name means "Yes, you are", or "Yes, you exist".
  • Foa fo – family Apogonidae. Known as weedy cardinalfish, this is a marine fish species of Indo-Pacific distribution, the type locality being the Philippines. Both the genus and species name derive from the word fo, Samoan for "cardinalfish".

6 letters

  • †Ano ale , †Ano mal , †Ano net , †Ano nym , †Ano ona and †Ano tak - family Liberiblattinidae. Six more fossil cockroaches from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods in the aforementioned genus Ano; ale is Slovak for "but", making the full name "Yes, but"; mal is Latin for "bad", and was given in reference to the deficent preservation state of the specimen; net is Russian for "no" (thus making the name "Yes no"); nym derives from Ancient Greek Ôνυμα (ónyma), meaning "name", and is used as wordplay and "also alluding to Nym server, a pseudonym server which provides untraceable email addresses"; ona is Slovak for "she", and was given in order to make the full name a palindrome; tak is Slovak for "so", making the complete name "Yes so".
  • Doto eo <small>Ortea & Moro, 2014</small> – family Dotidae. A sea slug from the Canary Islands, Spain. Its specific epithet derives "from the Latin eo, to move from one place to another, alluding to the pot warp on which it was collected, an unstable environment that facilitates the passive movement of the species."
  • Gea eff <small>Levi, 1983</small> – family Araneidae. An orb-weaver spider from New Guinea. It was given its unusual specific name because, even after it was identified as a distinct species, it remained for years without a proper description and was referred to in several papers simply as Argiope "F".
  • †Hra nie - family Liberiblattinidae. Another fossil cockroach from the Jurassic of Mongolia. Genus name Hra means "game" in Slovak, and nie means "no", but the complete word hranie means "playing".
  • Poa fax – family Poaceae. This Australian grass has the shortest name of any plant. Poa () is Greek for "fodder", and fax is Latin for "torch" or "flame", referring to "its dense, spike-like inflorescence which resembles a torch with ascending tongues of flame". While the name Poa fax is accepted as valid by Flora of Australia, and some databases reflect this, such as POWO, WCSP and FloraBase, other sources such as Tropicos, WFO and GrassBase consider it a synonym, superseded by Neuropoa fax <small>(J.H.Willis & Court) Clayton</small>.
  • Tor tor – family Cyprinidae. The Tor mahseer of red-finned mahseer is a commercially important freshwater fish found in streams all over South Asia. It was originally described as Cyprinus tor; its species name derives from tora, a local name in the Ganges basin for mahseers. Subsequently, it was transferred to newly created genus Tor.

7 letters

  • Betta pi <small>Tan, 1998</small> – family Osphronemidae. A species of fighting fish found in well-shaded peat forest blackwater swamps and creeks in Thailand and Malaysia. The specific epithet comes from the Greek letter pi, as an allusion to the shape of its throat marking.
  • Cis afer , Cis fagi and Cis leoi – family Ciidae. Cis is a genus of minute tree-fungus beetles found all over the world. Cis afer, from South Africa (afer is Latin for "African"), is only known from the type specimens and no other record of it exists. In the case of Cis fagi, from Europe, its specific epithet alludes to its affinity to beech trees (genus Fagus), though it also occurs in many other types of trees, such as aspens, birches, oaks, willows, etc. Cis leoi, from Brazil, is dedicated to Léo Falqueto Vaz-de-Mello, the then-recently born son of a couple of colleagues of the scientists that described it.
  • Doto kya and Doto uva – family Dotidae. Two sea slugs, the first from the North American Pacific coast, the second found in Ilhabela, Brazil. The epithet kya derives from a folklore name for a seal; uva, Latin for "grape", probably refers to the characteristic cerata of genus Doto, which resemble bunches of grapes.
  • Eois ewa , Eois ops and Eois oya – family Geometridae. Three species of the large genus Eois of geometer moths, all from the Neotropical region. E. ops, from Mexico, is named after the Roman goddess of fertility, Ops. E. ewa and E. oya are both from Brazil, and named after female Yoruba deities or orishas: Yewa, who represents the gift of divination and intuition, as well as mutations, transformations and the perception of what is beautiful and what is ugly; and Ọya, who commands the winds, lightning and storms. These epithets were given as a tribute to women and to Brazilian black culture.
  • †Han solo <small>Turvey, 2005</small> – family Diplagnostidae. A fossil trilobite from the Ordovician of China. According to the original publication, the generic name Han is a reference to the Han Chinese, the largest ethnic group in China; and the specific epithet solo refers to the fact that the species is the youngest Diplagnostidae fossil found to that date, suggesting that it was the last surviving member of that family. However, Samuel Turvey has stated elsewhere that he named it after Han Solo because some friends dared him to name a species after a Star Wars character.
  • †Hra bavi and †Hra nice - family Liberiblattinidae. Two more fossil cockroaches from the Jurassic of Mongolia and Kazakhstan respectively. Bavi means something enjoyable or entertaining, therefore the translation of the whole name would be something like "The game is fun"; hranice is Slovak for "boundaries".
  • Ida lata and Ida nana - family Orchidaceae. Two South American species of orchids. They were originally described as Lycaste lata and Lycaste nana, and subsequently transferred to genus Ida.
  • Ips pini <small>(Say, 1826)</small> – family Curculionidae. The common pine engraver, a North American species of typical bark beetle. Originally described as Bostrichus pini and subsequently transferred to genus Ips.
  • Lon azin <small>(Godman, 1900)</small> – family Hesperiidae. A skipper butterfly from Colombia. Originally assigned the name Phycanassa azin, with no explanation of the specific epithet. Subsequently, it was transferred to genus Lon, which was formed from the last syllable of the type species name (Lon zabulon).
  • Mini mum <small>Scherz et al., 2019</small> – family Microhylidae. The type species of the genus Mini, which are extremely small () frogs endemic to Madagascar, among the smallest vertebrates known to science.
  • Nu aakhu – family Polynoidae. A scale worm found in the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone. The genus and species names are derived from ancient Egyptian religion: "'<nowiki/>Nu<nowiki/>' refers to the deification of the primordial watery abyss whence all life came, also known as 'the Father of the Gods' and 'the Eldest'."; "'<nowiki/>áakhu<nowiki/>' is one of the elements that compose the human soul. An '<nowiki/>áakhu<nowiki/>' is the glorified spirit or a blessed soul which has passed the final judgement (the Weighing of the Heart). The term refers to the translucent character of the body of this worm."
  • †Nula sis - family Blattulidae. Another fossil cockroach, in this case a larva found in amber from the Cretaceous of France. Genus name Nula (meaning zero) alludes to the fact that the specimen did not complete its lifecycle. The specific name sis is after Latin "if you like it", and also an abbreviation of the type locality, Sisteron.
  • Oia lata – family Linyphiidae. A dwarf spider from Hunan, China. No etymological explanation was given when genus Oia was established in 1973; the specific name lata is latin for "broad", referring to the broad prolateral tibial apophysis in male palp.
  • Pieza pi <small>Evenhuis, 2002</small> – family Mythicomyiidae. A small fly found in Bahamas, Turks and Caicos and Mexico. Entomologist Neal Evenhuis, known for his playful binomials, created the genus Pieza, explaining it as "derived from the Greek "πιεζοσ" = to squeeze, referring to the peculiar shape of the sperm pump and apical valve of the female genitalia", and then used it to generate some phonetic puns, in this species (pronounced like "pizza pie"), and others such as Pieza deresistans (), Pieza kake ("piece of cake") and Pieza rhea ("pizzeria").
  • Pison eu <small>Menke, 1988</small> – family Crabronidae. Pison is an old and well-studied genus of wasps, created in the early 19th century and containing over 150 species. Arnold Menke (who also named Aha ha) named many of them in a 1988 taxonomic revision. The stated etymology is that "The name eu, treated as a noun in apposition, is based on the Greek prefix meaning 'true' or 'good', a reference to the fact that the species is valid"; however, it is believed that in this case he again was engaging in some jocular wordplay (its pronunciation would be similar to "piss on you").
  • Poa alta <small>Hitchc.</small>, Poa anae <small>Tovar</small>, Poa cita <small>Edgar</small>, Poa maia <small>Edgar</small> and Poa orba <small>N.G.Walsh</small> – family Poaceae. Another five species of grass of the genus Poa. The specific epithet alta, Latin for "tall", refers to this species being "unusually tall, with elongate blades." Poa anae is named after botanist Ana Crespo. The epithet cita, Latin for "quick, swift", refers to the rapid growth of this species, known as silver tussock or wÄ«. Poa maia is named after Maia, one of the stars in the Pleiades. The epithet of Poa orba derives from orbus, Latin for "orphan", and "alludes to its long rejection as an indigenous plant by [local] botanists, and also to its unclear phylogenetic relationship to other native Poa species."
  • †Sus houi <small>Qi, Ho & Chang, 1999</small> and †Sus peii <small>Han, 1987</small> – family Suidae. Two extinct species of pigs from the Pleistocene of Taiwan and China, respectively. The specific name houi honors Mr Hou Liren, the collector of the fossil; the name peii honours Chinese paleontologist Pei Wenzhong.
  • Tor ater – family Cyprinidae. Another species in the aforementioned genus of freshwater fish Tor. Ater means "dark" in Latin and refers to the dark coloration of this mahseer, which is found in Laos.
  • Ufo abei – family Cynipidae. A gall wasp from Japan. Its genus name Ufo comes from the common phrase "unidentified flying object", in this case applied because the researchers did not know what the wasp was when they first saw it. The specific name abei honors Japanese entomologist Yoshihisa Abe.
  • Xya atra , Xya muta and Xya royi - family Tridactylidae. Three species of pygmy mole crickets of the genus Xya. The first one is named for its black colour. The second was originally described as Tridactylus mutus but subsequently transferred to genus Xya; no etymological information was given, but the epithet (meaning "mute" in latin) implies it is less noisy than other similar species. The third one is named after French entomologist Roger Roy.
  • Zea mays <small>L.</small> – family Poaceae. This is the scientific name of maize, i.e. corn. Generic name Zea is derived from the Greek name (ζειά) for another cereal grain (possibly spelt); the specific epithet derives from the indigenous Taíno word for the plant, mahiz.

Notes

References