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Facts on Scientific Names of Organisms
Ant writes "From my ant message board thread (trying to pick names related to ants for World of Warcraft), Myrmecos mentioned Curiosities of Biological Nomenclature that lists scientific names of organisms are not usually known for their entertainment value. They are indispensable for clarity in communication, but most people skip over them with barely a glance. Mark Isaak, the author, collected those names that are worth a second look. Some names are interesting for what they are named after (for example, Arthurdactylus conandoylensis, Godzillius), some are puns (La cucaracha, Phthiria relativitae), and some show other kinds of wordplay (such as the palindromic Orizabus subaziro). Some have achieved notability through accident of history, and many show the sense of humor of taxonomists."
As with the common stinkhorn, a mushroom that is known scientifically as Phallus impudicus .
Oh, no! You have walked into the slavering fangs of a lurking grue!
Two nitpicks. The species name is always the entire binomial, not just the second word. The second word is referred to as the specific epithet. Also the specific epithet is always lowercase. Come on people, we are nerds. We know case matters.
Mathematics is made of 50 percent formulas, 50 percent proofs, and 50 percent imagination.
It was first found in Cummington, USA.
For more funny minerals/molecules names (Arsole, Nonanone, Spamol), there's this silly page. Has a picture of Cummingtonite as well.
There is a fish - found in New Zealands' Fjordland (Milford Sound, and surrounding Fjords), which has been given the name "Fiordichthys slartibartfasti" - after Slartibartfast - the award-winning Fjord designer in Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker books.
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http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cf