Comments

  3. Brownian says

    Should I have made it in honor of Brownian’s ass instead?

    You are such a poopyhead.

  5. Woo_Monster, Sniffer of Starfarts says

    Should I have made it in honor of Brownian’s ass instead?

    Chaetopterus pugaporcinus would look nice in a pair of skinny jeans.

  9. Menyambal --- Sambal's sockpuppet says

    I think there may be a little different story on the name, there. It reminds me of “porcelain”—the word, not the substance.

    According to my memory, the Spanish sailors/explorers who first found a cowrie shell thought the opening looked like a woman’s vulva (they’d been at sea a while). One of the Spanish terms for what we call “pussy” was “piggy”, or in Spanish, “porcellus”. Being sailors, they named the shell “porcellus”.

    The decent folks back home used the name. Perhaps they assumed the name referred to the shiny white part of the cowrie shell, compared to white-skinned pigs, maybe, because when white pottery from China got to Europe, they called it “porcelain”. After all, it looked white and shiny like a cowrie shell.

    So, when I looked at the picture and thought of vulva, then saw “porcinus”, I thought of porcelain.

    It may just be the late hour, here, or the giddy rush of seeing the banhammer wielded so deftly.

  10. says

    So, when I looked at the picture and thought of vulva, then saw “porcinus”, I thought of porcelain.

    “Puga” is the important part of the name, meaning “buttocks” (or, “mainly buttocks”) in English. Buttocks of pig, presumably, not buttocks of vulva.

    Not a bad story, butt (clever, I know, but it’s late here too) apparently not informative of this name.

    Glen Davidson

  15. says

    Menyambal,

    Explanation of the scientific name:
    The species is named pugaporcinus (based on the following Latin roots and suffix respectively: puga : rump; porcus : pig; and inus : having the likeness of) for its resemblance to the “rump of a pig.” Puga and porcus are nouns in opposition, resulting in a masculine specific epithet to agree in gender with Chaetopterus. For the sake of simplicity and euphony, an “a” was chosen as the connecting vowel instead of the usual “ato” or “i.”

    From “Description and Relationships of Chaetopterus pugaporcinus, an Unusual Pelagic Polychaete (Annelida, Chaetopteridae)” by Osborn, Rouse, Goffredi, and Robinson (2007)

  17. 'Tis Himself says

    Should I have made it in honor of Brownian’s ass instead?

    Some people will do anything to move up their place in the line.

  18. Ogvorbis: Ignorant sycophantic magpie. says

    But can you describe the colour of this to someone who is blind? NO!!1! You cannot. Therefore, undefinable gods!

  21. says

    Naked bunny

    Chaetopterus pugaporcinus!

    Gotta mind those capital letters! (Yeah, sorry, bit pedantic, but that’s the influence of my old zoology professor for ya)