Zoologists have often given our fauna scientific names which are interesting, strange, amusing or even downright rude.

This blog will , over time, systematically dissect the literal meanings behind some of our British animals' scientific names.
I'll start with birds and move onto insects and other animals.

This blog began life on November 16th 2012. I will add to it regularly.

Tuesday 4 December 2012

Common scoter

Common scoter
Melanitta nigra
[Linnaeus, 1758]


The common scoter is a large sea duck that is black.... very black indeed and is almost completely confined to being a winter visitor (only) to the UK.

Its scientific name is pretty apt, if a little heavy-on-the-mustard.

Melanitta literally means "black duck" from the Greek melas meaning "dark" or "black" (think melanistic & melanin) and netta meaning "duck".
nigra comes from the Latin niger meaning "shining black".

SOoooo....

The common scoter has a scientific name which quite liddderallllly means the:

"Black duck that's (so black ... it's) shiny black"

Ok... we get it, we get it.

It's black.

It'll always be the ACDC of ducks to me....

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