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.

Thursday, 6 December 2012

King eider

King eider
Somateria spectabilis
[Linnaeus, 1758]

I've included the king eider in this blog, just so that we can dissect the word "spectabilis", as it crops up many times in zoological scientific names.

The king eider does not get its English name from someone being angry with a normal Eider ('king eider....) but from the fact that it looks like a very royal eider indeed....

If you'll permit me to refer to you to the (bog standard) Eider scientific name explanation on this blog, you see where Somateria stems from ("wool body" in Greek).
spectabilis however, means "spectacular" or "remarkable" in Latin - very apt I think when one compares a King Eider (drake) to its less remarkable cousin...

So... the King Eider's scientific name literally means:

"Spectacular or remarkable soft woolly body"
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