SOME SCIENCE MISNOMERS

Misnomers are names given to scientific concepts, objects, or phenomena that are inaccurate and/or misleading. Below are some of these misnomers, but I am confident that there are MANY more that have permeated scientific topics.

note: The word “misnomer” is from an Old French word, meaning “to name wrongly.”

PLANTS 

Fortnight “Lily” is not a lily flower [note: it is an Iris flower].

Callas “Lily” is not a lily flower.

Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries are not berries. 

Peanuts are not nuts; rather they are legumes (i.e., related to peas).

Coconuts and walnuts are not nuts; both are drupes (fleshy fruits).

Hazelnuts and chestnuts are not true nuts.

“Bird of Paradise” is a flower, not a bird.

“Kangaroo paw” is a plant and has nothing to do with kangaroos.

Snake plant is a plant, not a snake.

Spanish bayonet is a plant, not a bayonet.

Poison oak is not a true oak.

Lion’s ear is a flower.

Butterfly weed is not a butterfly.

Cat’s pajamas is a hydrid plant = Nepeta. 

Teddy Bear sunflower is not a teddy bear.

Big Duck Gold is a plant, not a duck. 

Goatsbeard is a flower, and has nothing to do with a goat.

Bunny Tails are plants, not bunnies nor tails.

A cardinal flower is not a bird.

Dragon’s blood is a flower.

Leopards bane is a flower, not an animal.

Lamb’s ear is a plant, not an animal. 

Zebra grass is a plant, not an animal.

Horsetail [= Equisetum] is a plant and has nothing to do with a horse.

Dinosaur tree is the Ginkgo tree and has nothing to do with dinosaurs.

Dogwood is a plant, not a dog. 

Bee balm is a flower and not derived from a bee.

Elephant ears is a succulent plant that has nothing to do with elephants.

Monkeyflower is a swamp flower that has nothing to do with monkeys. 

Cattail is a wetland plant and has nothing to do with cats.

The Yellow Trout Lily flower is a flower and has nothing to do with trout fish.

The Bird of Paradise is a flower, not a bird.

The Butteryfly Bush is not a butterfly.

The Norfolk Island Pine is not a true pine tree.

The Cook Pine is not a true pine.

Irish moss it a type of red algae, not a moss.

A whisk fern is not a fern.

American blue-eyed grass does not have eyes.

The snake plant is not a snake.

The Sago Palm is not a palm tree.

Lucky bamboo is not even bamboo.

Jersualem artichokes come from North America and are not artichokes but are a member of the sunflower flamily.

ANIMALS 

                            Invertebrates 

The Alabama waterdog is actually an aquatic salamander.

Cuttlefish is not a fish (it is a cephalopod mollusk).

Duck Foot or Pelican’s Foot is a gastropod seashell.

Fireflies are not flies (they are beetles).

Glow worms are not worms. They are insect larvae.

Geoduck (pronounced “gooey” duck) is a large burrowing clam.

Horny toad is a lizard, not a toad.

Horse conch has nothing to do with horses. It is a gastropod seashell.

Jelly fish are not fish, they are cnidarians.

King crabs are not true crabs. 

Crab spiders are spiders, not crabs.

Mantis shrimp is not a Mantis, nor a true shrimp. They are stomatopods.

Starfish are not stars, they are echinoderms.

Porcupine is not a tree, rather it is a mammal.

Velvet ants are wasps, not ants.

Naval shipworm is not a worm; it is a clam that burrows into ship docks, etc.

Whip spider is not a spider and does not whip anything.

Slow worm is not a worm; it is a legless reptile that looks like a snake.

[A double misnomer] Vampire squid is neither one; it is the only surviving swimming member of a strange group of cephalopods.

Slow worm is not a worm; it is a legless reptile that looks like a snake.

Butterflies are not made of butter, nor related to flies; they are insects.

Horse conchs are not horses, they are gastropods.

“Duck’s foot” is a seashell.

Sea potato is not a potato, it is a species of echinoderm sea-urchin.

Venus’ flower basket is not a flower, it is actually is a deep-sea glass sponge.

A sand dollar is an echinoid.

The term “killer clam” has a usage indicating they kill humans although this clam eats phytoplankton (microscopic) life forms.

A butterfly is not butter. 

A banana slug is not a banana.

 

                        Vertebrates

The American buffalo is a bison, not a buffalo.

The electric eel is not electric.

The “mountain chicken” is a frog, not a chicken.

Red Panda is not a panda; it is more closely related to raccoons, skunks, and weasels

Bearcat is a bear, not a cat.

A hellbender is an amphibian.

Bull dog is not a bull.

Bull shark is not a bull.

Bull snake is not a bull.

Kangaroo rat is a rodent, not a marsupial.

The slow worm is not a worm; it is a legless reptile.

Koala Bear is a marsupial, not a bear.

Flying fox is a bat, not a fox.

Flying lemurs cannot fly, they glide.

[A double misnomer] The Guinea pig is not a pig, but it is a rodent that originated in the Andes, not in Guinea.

The whale shark is a mammal, not a shark.

Killer Whale is not a whale, it is a dophin.

King Cobra is a snake but not a true cobra.

Prairie dogs are not dogs, rather they are rodents.

A nighthawk is not a hawk and does not even fly at night. Also, it is more active at dawn than at dusk.

A mud puppy is a salamander covered in mucus, not mud.

A winged dragonfish is not a dragon but it is a fish with wing-like fins.

Seashorse is not a horse, it is a fish.

Sawfish is not a saw.

Short-eared and long-eared owls do not have ears; rather they just have feather tuffs.

A titmouse is not a mouse; it is a bird.

Turkey vulture has nothing in common with turkeys.

The “Water Buffalo” is not a buffalo.

A nighthawk is not a hawk and does not even fly at night.

[A double misnomer]: A fisher cat does not fish and is not a cat; it is a cousin of the weasel.

A mud puppy is a salamander covered in mucus, not mud.

A winged dragonfish is not a dragon but it is a fish with wing-like fins.

Head cheese is a meat product!

Mountain goats are not goats, they are a type of antelope.

Fire flies are not flies but are flying beetles.

Kangaroo rat is not a rat.

The mudpuppy is not a puppy, rather it is a big mucus-covered salamander.

The Tennessee Warbler lives in Canada and Mexico.

__________________________________________________

MISCELLANEOUS 

 

“Catgut” is made from sheep, not cats. 

“Lead” in pencils is actually carbon, not lead.

Voltaire’s famous remark about the “Holy Roman Empire” is bogus; it was neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.

Buffalo wings are not related to buffalos nor birds; they are name for the city of Buffalo, New York.

Spiders are not insects.

Panama hats come from Eucador.

Ringworm is not a worm; it is caused by fungi.

GAMES

Chinese checkers originated in Germany, not in China

MATHEMATICS

Arabic numerals originated in India, not in Arabia.

MUSIC

French Horns originated in Germany, not in France.

English Horns come from Poland and are not horns (they are actually are instruments related to the oboe).

ASTRONOMY 

Dark Side of the Moon”---The Moon has no permanently dark side; both sides experience sunlight and darkness, though only one side of the moon is visible from earth.

     

A “shooting star” is actually a small meteorite.

 “ Light Year” is the distance light travels in one Earth year; thus it is a unit of distance, not time.

GEOLOGY

Tidal Wave vs.Tsunami:

[note: The news media is responsible for improperly continuing to use the term “tidal wave” when referring to an earth-caused displacement of water by an earthquake].

 A “Tsunami of lies” is not an oceanic event.

“Fool’s Gold” is not gold! It is the mineral pyrite (iron-sulfide).

“Moonstone” is a mineral (albite) and has nothing to do with the Moon.

Siberian ruby is not a ruby, it is tourmaline.

PALEONTOLOGY

A “fossil” is not a still-living, elderly person! The word “fossil” actually indicates something that was organic, is greater 10,000 years old, and is preserved naturally in the rock record.

The term “living fossil” is a misnomer because how can you be living and also be a fossil?

Basilosaurus [translated, this word means “king lizard,”], but Basilosaurus is an ancient whale (= a mammal).

Duckbill dinosaur is not related to ducks.

Vulcanodon (the “ Volcano tooth” dinosaur) is not a reptile; the skull of this dinosaur is not even known; furthermore, the poscranium of this dinosaur is now know to be from a different animal versus the rest of the skeleton.

METEROLOGY

Atmospheric “River” (“so–called “rivers in the sky,” which is a phrase used constantly by the news media) are not rivers. [Can you canoe down an atmosphere river?]

“Pineapple Express” (where are the pineapples?)

  

“Bomb Cyclone” (another awful term) manufactured by the news media.

OTHER

  

“Theory” = nowadays this is a consistently misused term for any hair-brained idea, when the term was intended to be use for a well-thought explanation based on facts.

White chocolate it not a true chocolate as is not prepared from cacao beans.

Tin cans are no longer made from tin.

               REFERENCES USED TO COMPILE THIS LIST

https:llwww.reddit.com ask Historian/comments…misnomers from history

https://www.merriam-webstar.com/wordplay/9 misnnomers and misleading names

https.www.mentalfloss.com

https.//ngb.org/animal-plant names

Jones, P.A. 2022. 34 Misleading Misnomers explained. Mental Floss (an online source).

Mosco, Rosemary. 2018. 15 Confusing plant and animal misnomers.

         

AS WITH ALL OF MY POSTS, NO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE HAS BEEN USED IN THE PREPARATION OF THIS POST

                                              Note: The term "artificial intelligence" is also a misnomer!             

AN UNFOREGETABLE CEPHALOPOD: “THE VAMPIRE SQUID”

The name "Vampire Squid" name is a misnomer because the animal is certainly NOT a vampire, nor a squid. This unique cephalopod is more closely related to octopuses than to squids. It is about the size of a football and has eight arms (like an octopus), but lacks the feeding tentacles/suckers (as present on squids). It might be an octopus, but even that is very doubtful. Most likely it is a different type of cephalopod (albeit a deep-water one), and a new name would be fitting for this unique cephalopod.

Unlike other cephalopods, the “vampire squid” is not a carnivore; instead it is a generalist that feeds on “falling” debris in the ocean depths. The “vampire squid” also lacks an ink sack. The “vampire squid” is the only cephalopod that does not actively track its prey. Also, unlike other cephalopods, the “vampire squid” does not die after laying its eggs.

“Vampire squids” can also emit bioluminescent, sticky mucus that glows for up to 10 minutes, thereby allowing the animal it to escape a predator. Usually, “vampire squids” float peacefully in their deep, oxygen-deprived environment-awaiting for food to float to them as floating debris. The “vampire squid” can swim away (it uses jet propulsion to avoid predators, but its speed is short lived. 

This unique cephalopod lives as a floater and a generally weak swimmers (although when under attack, they can move as fast as two body lengths/second). It lives in deep, dark frigid ocean waters, at bathyal depths between 2,000 and 3,000 feet (609-914 m) deep, “where the sun doesn’t shine,” and the water temperature is 4-6 degrees Celcius.

Figure 1. A typical red-colored adult of the so-called “vampire squid.” These animals drift with the deep-ocean currents and eats food that has fallen from the overlying shallow tropical and temperate waters above.

Adult “vampire squids” are about 30 cm (1 foot) long and have eight long “arms” (without sucker disks) and with a pair of large eyes for optimal vision in dim waters. They essentially have permanent night vision. Relative to the size of the adult animal, “vampire squids” have some of the largest (if not the largest) eyes in the animal kingdom. Also, the eyes of “vampire squids” are blue. 

The “vampire squids” live up to 10 years = much longer than other cephalopods. [Note: most octopus live for 1-5 years, and the Nautilus cephalopod can live for 20+ years. They lack an ink sac. They don’t hunt for food; it comes to them.

Figure 2. The individual shown is this figure has its “cape” turned inside out, like an umbrella. This happens most likely when the animal is disturbed and wants to confuse predators. If necessary, “vampire squids” can reshape their bodies into spiny (spiky) balls.

Juvenile “vampire squids” are black or blackish and have a second pair of fins closer to the arms. As these juveniles grow bigger, their additional fins are absorbed back into the body. Also, the “vampire squid” can regrow the tips of their arms. Furthermore, they also have a “little glow stick”on their arms in order to confuse predators in the dark, inky depths. The “vampire squid” can glow in the dark for up to 10 minutes. 

Figure 3. A juvenile “vampire squid.”

FOSSIL RECORD

The earliest record is of early middle Jurassic age (201-174 million years old). Their anatomy has hardly changed since then (i.e., there has been no reason to change). 

CLASSIFICATION

Phylum Mollusca

Class Cephalopoda 

Order Vampyromorphia = probably ancestral for both octopuses and squids.

Family Vampyroteuthidae

Genus Vanpyroteuthis [literally means “vampire squid from hell = an undeserved name!]

Type Species V. infernails [this is the only known species of this genus]

REFERENCES

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) = excellent videos of these so-called “squids.”

National Geographic website

Wikipedia

SOME EXAMPLES OF MIGMATITE ROCKS

Migmatites represent transitions in the rock cycle from medium and high-grade metamorphic rocks to igneous rocks. Furthermore, migmatites are the result of partial melting that occurred in extreme conditions deep inside the earth’s crust. They can be intricately folded (e.g., having zigzag patterns) because they are the result of thermal softening. Migmatites can also be swirled or twisted in some way because some minerals had started to melt. 

Migmatites are commonly of Precambrian age.

Figure 1. Migmatite rock (10 inches from lower left corner to upper right corner): showing rotation of its main components and flow banding.

Figure 2. Migmatite rock (9 inches from lower left corner to upper right corner): showing flow banding of some its component parts.

Figure 3. Migmatite rock (6.5 inches from left to right).

Figure 4. Sketch of ptygmatic (“intestine-like) folding (in pink color) found in a migmatite. Sketch modified from: https://www.britannica.com/science. Scale: unknown.