Note: This article is from Conservation Magazine, the precursor to Anthropocene Magazine. The full 14-year Conservation Magazine archive is now available here.

A Name Worth Remembering

September 1, 2011

It’s tough to love a species with an unpronounceable name. The Guardian decided to solve this problem through crowd-sourcing, asking readers to give common names to threatened or endangered species that previously had only a Latinate moniker. An expert panel of judges recently chose winners for the second annual “Name a Species” competition. Here’s a sampling of new, creative names from the 2010 and 2011 contests.

Hotlips fungus

aka: Octospora humosa

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Witches’ whiskers lichen

aka: Usnea florida

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Sea piglet shrimp

aka: Arrhis phyllonyx

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Zipper-back hoverfly

aka: Chrysotoxum elegans

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Gangly lancer sea spider

aka: Nymphon gracile

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Photo credits (top to bottom): Jens H. Petersen/MycoKey, Robin Crump, Wojciech Moskal, Alvesgaspar, World Register of Marine Species

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