The Silly Side of Nature: 18 Hilariously Named Animals

It is a species of wrasse (a marine fish) native to the Atlantic Ocean. Most wrasses have silly names.

Sarcastic fringehead is a small but ferocious fish which has a large mouth and aggressive territorial behavior, for which it has been given its name. When two fringeheads have a territorial battle, they wrestle by pressing their distended mouths against each other, as if they were kissing. This allows them to determine which is the larger fish, which establishes dominance.

In 2015, two gorgeous new species of peacock spiders nicknamed “Skeletorus” and “Sparklemuffin” were discovered in Australia. Sparklemuffin was named such due to bluish and reddish stripes on its abdomen.

Though it sounds like a Shakespearean insult, it is a medium-sized woodpecker found in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. Like other sapsuckers, these birds drill holes in trees and eat the sap and insects drawn to it. They may also pick insects from tree trunks or catch them in flight. They also eat fruit and berries.

It is a good looking bird found in Africa. Typical calls are a nasal haa-haa-haa, like the bleating of a sheep, and a single or repeated gwa (or g'away). It flies from tree to tree in loose straggling groups, calling loudly.

It is a species of beetle in the genus Ytu. It was discovered by in 1980 in Brazil.

It is a species of European beetle.

Fried egg jellyfish is called as such because it looks like a fried egg from the top.

Though it is tufted it sure isn’t a mouse. It is a bird belonging to the tit family of birds.

It is a type of beetle of the family Leiodidae. This unobtrusive round fungus beetle was first described in 1933 by University of Washington entomologist Melville H. Hatch. Hatch is also credited with naming similarly silly coleopterans such as Colon forceps, Colon monstrosum, Colon grossum, and Colon horni.