Mystery:

Is it a plant? Or is it a monkey?

It should not be hard to recognize the differences between furry night monkeys and the bright yellow flowers of golden peas. But they have something peculiar in common that leads to some confusion once in while: their name. Both genera are officially known as Aotus.

There are about two million known species on the planet, so it should not come to a surprise that scientists accidentally have given certain species, or groups of species, similar names. For instance, Proboscidea is considered an order of elephants, but it is also the name for the genus of devil’s claws. Other examples include Myrmecia pyriformis (insect and green algae), Ficus elegans (mollusc and plant), Ormosia nobilis (insect and plant), and Trigonidium grande (orchid and katydid).

(more…)

October 11, 2012 | Categories: Building Open Tree | Tags: #opentree, anthrax, Aotus, biodiversity, database, evolutionary biology, homonyms, Mendeley, names, naming codes, open tree of life, phylogeny, species, taxonomy | 5 Comments