Quote:
Originally Posted by BillyMac
Students came into my lesson believing that "scientific" names were stupid, and that "common" names were good enough. Students left my lesson believing the opposite.
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One of my best lessons.
There are over one-hundred "common" names for one bird, the northern flicker (
Colaptes auratus) including yellowhammer, pigeon woodpecker, and golden winged woodpecker.
The cougar (
Puma concolor), a single animal, has many "common" names, including puma, mountain lion, catamount, and panther.
And true "panthers" can be leopards (
Panthera pardus) or jaguars (
Panthera onca).
Cougars are not true "panthers"
Lions (
Panthera leo) and tigers (
Panthera tigris) are also true "panthers".
And the Florida panther isn't a real "panther", it's a cougar (
Puma concolor).
Confused? That's the point.
Stick to the Latin scientific names and you won't be.
Catfish, crayfish, silverfish, jellyfish, starfish.
Only one is a fish (and it isn't a member of the cat (
Felidae) family).
One doesn't even live in the water.