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Scientific Names

We give you the scientific name. Can you guess what it is called in common English?
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: April 5, 2020
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First submittedAugust 15, 2013
Times taken58,626
Average score65.0%
Rating4.31
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Scientific Name
Hint
Common Name
Homo sapiens
Animal
Human
Equus ferus caballus
Animal
Horse
Equus quagga
Animal
Zebra
Panthera leo
Animal
Lion
Canis lupus familiaris
Animal
Dog
Pan troglodytes
Animal
Chimpanzee
Ursus maritimus
Animal
Polar bear
Aves
Class of animal
Birds
Corvus
Genus of animal
Crow / raven
Vitis vinifera
Edible plant
Grape
Polaris
Celestial object
North Star
Scientific Name
Hint
Common Name
Clavicle
Body part
Collarbone
Mandible
Body part
Jaw bone
Leukocyte
Body part
White blood cell
Patella
Body part
Kneecap
Bovine spongiform
encephalopathy
Disease
Mad Cow
disease
SARS-CoV-2
Virus
Covid-19
Aurora borealis
Phenomenon
Northern lights
Sodium chloride
Substance
Salt
L-ascorbic Acid
Substance
Vitamin C
+16
Level 55
Sep 20, 2013
A very minor point - in current usage, the second (species) and third (subspecies) scientific names of animals should be in lower case (e.g., Canis lupus familiaris, Ursus maritimus, Equus quagga, etc.). Good quiz, Thanks Quizmaster!
+6
Level ∞
Dec 9, 2015
I'll take your word for it and put those in lower case.
+5
Level 57
Sep 23, 2013
This quiz should have the name modified, since most of the latin names ARE NOT scientific names as we know it. Scientific name in this case can´t be used as an opposition for popular or vernacular names.

"Scientific names" make us think about the binomial nomenclature stated by Linnaeus for classification of living organisms, as some of the posed questions (eg. Homo sapiens. Equus ferus, etc), but not for others (eg. aurora borealis, clavicle, etc).

Furthermore, there is a lot of errors. Capsicum is only one genus of pepper (see Pimenta spp, Piper spp, etc) and not all Capsicum species are known as pepper. Equus quagga isn´t the zebra itself (Equus zebra) but an extinct type of animal that resembles a zebra (Vernacular name: Mountain zebra). Lots of corrections must be done! But the idea of the quizz is cool!

Sorry about the poor english... but my sugestions were made!

+4
Level ∞
Sep 23, 2013
Where does it say that this quiz only uses "binomial nomenclature"?

Also,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equus_quagga

+4
Level 45
May 15, 2020
Yeah I was confused, I thought the quagga was extinct...
+5
Level 54
May 15, 2020
The quagga is extinct. But it was a subspecies of the plains zebra, and its scientific name was Equus quagga quagga.
+8
Level 75
Dec 2, 2014
Accept "white cell"?
+4
Level 53
May 11, 2015
No.
+3
Level 82
May 30, 2018
That is literally what it means
+13
Level 42
Apr 7, 2019
That's really strange! Why do the quiz do not accept "white cells" when this is more correct than "white blood cells". Remember: they spend more time in lymph vessels than in blood vessels. Nor do the same accepts WBCs.
+1
Level 66
Dec 9, 2023
I typed "blood cell" and moved on because I thought surely this was specific enough :/
+1
Level 74
Dec 9, 2023
There are two kinds of colored blood cells... red and white... so no, blood cell isn't enough.
+7
Level 68
Jan 1, 2016
Seriously, it doesn't take knee?!
+11
Level 57
Mar 24, 2016
Correctly - patella is just the bone on the font, not the whole structure of the knee.
+1
Level 49
Dec 10, 2023
The patella is the name of the bone found where the "kneecap" is so I think simply writing knee should be a sufficient answer.
+1
Level 61
Dec 15, 2023
The patella and the kneecap are synonymous. They both refer to the plate of bone at the front of your knee. Note that I say "at the front of your knee" because they are *not* the whole knee itself; there's more to the joint than just a single plate of bone. I'm not sure why you're trying to argue against that.
+3
Level 84
Apr 10, 2020
The knee is a joint. The patella is not the joint.
+2
Level 66
Mar 24, 2016
We have aurora Australis in the southern hemisphere but we don't call it the southern lights. Must be a northerner thing.
+3
Level 75
Mar 24, 2016
Thank you! I always wondered about that.
+5
Level 82
Jul 12, 2016
I hear Southern Lights all the time, though I personally more commonly say aurora for both austral and boreal versions.
+3
Level 76
Apr 6, 2020
How do you hear lights?
+4
Level 66
May 15, 2020
@TurkeyCookTime synesthesia.
+3
Level 82
Apr 5, 2020
Polar lights should be accepted
+3
Level 71
Mar 24, 2016
I didn't get polaris as I was trying "north", "northern", "pole" and such. All I've ever seen used is the form "Stella Polaris", but according to Wikipedia it does seem that just "Polaris" refers to the star these days. Thus, Stella Polaris would be Northern Star Star. Nice.
+2
Level 52
Mar 24, 2016
Wouldn't the North Star be Alpha Ursae Minoris? Polaris is a proper name
+3
Level 65
Mar 24, 2016
This is very picky, but any molecule which contains an alkali metal and a halogen can be called a salt. I would suggest taking "salt" as an acceptable type-in but write "table salt" as the answer.
+9
Level 54
Mar 24, 2016
Seriously? Who asks, "Please pass the table salt?" If you asked me that, I would reply, "as opposed to the floor salt, or what?" :)
+6
Level 65
Mar 24, 2016
Yeah. It does say common name.
+3
Level 66
Jan 12, 2018
As opposed to road salt maybe?
+1
Level 88
Apr 5, 2020
^ Halite is the same thing, but I've never seen it on a table unless making ice cream the good old way.
+1
Level 76
Apr 6, 2020
As opposed to sea salt
+4
Level 75
May 15, 2020
Sea salt IS table salt in our house. We said table salt when I was young, probably as opposed to Epsom salt, which most households had back then to use as laxatives or for foot soaks. I don't hear people say table salt these days.
+1
Level 88
Apr 5, 2020
The word salt, and its relatives in innumerable langues, come from the Latin word for what everyone in their right mind calls salt.

Much as we would look askance these days at getting paid part of our salary in salt, cashing a check for some calcium chloride would be of no benefit to human sustenance. Maybe if you needed to melt a driveway.

+1
Level 70
Mar 24, 2016
I guess that since it says scientific names, your definition of ave is correct, but ave is also Latin for "Hail" or "Farewell".
+2
Level 62
Mar 24, 2016
The singular of "aves" is "avis".
+3
Level 16
Mar 24, 2016
Should accept knee for patella!
+6
Level 84
Apr 10, 2020
Just look up "patella" and see if it says "knee". It doesn't.

Joint ≠ bone.

+1
Level 16
Mar 24, 2016
Great quiz btw!
+10
Level 66
Apr 7, 2017
I know this is very pedantic and I don't expect you to add it, but I want it to be known that Equus quagga is actually the Plains zebra only. DNA analyses suggest that the three species of zebras are most likely not even the closest living relatives to each other, with one being closer related to the African wild ass and another closer to the Onager and Kiang.
+11
Level 76
Apr 5, 2020
I actually learn a lot from reading the pedantic comments on this site
+3
Level 95
Jun 14, 2017
Is "White Cell" acceptable? Thanks.
+1
Level 74
Jun 24, 2017
+1

Or at least White Bloody Cell

+5
Level 65
Apr 7, 2019
Bloody cell?? Ok that invokes quite horrific images
+6
Level 82
Apr 7, 2019
how about "bloody white cell?"
+1
Level 67
May 18, 2020
or at least white globule
+15
Level 59
May 30, 2018
A-Aurora Borealis! At this time of year at this time of day in this part of the internet localized entirely in this quiz!
+7
Level 76
Apr 5, 2020
Yes!
+6
Level 63
May 15, 2020
May I see it?
+4
Level 66
May 16, 2020
Mm ... no.
+1
Level 65
Jan 5, 2019
I got all but zebra with 3 minutes left, took me almost a minute to come up with zebra ( tried pony, shetland pony, donkey, mule, even bull, cow and camel out of desparation.. knowing those werent right)
+2
Level 74
May 15, 2020
please accept polar lights too.
+1
Level 61
May 15, 2020
how did 21% of people not get coronavirus
+25
Level 74
May 15, 2020
Good hygiene and social distancing maybe.
+1
Level 66
May 16, 2020
Ha! This actually made me laugh out loud!
+1
Level 65
Mar 2, 2022
That was funny :D
+1
Level 45
May 15, 2020
Gah! I said knee, dang it.
+3
Level 68
May 15, 2020
Is Polaris really considered the scientific name for the star? It's just its name. That's like including "Mars" as a scientific name for "the red planet"
+1
Level 76
Nov 1, 2020
Which would also be correct, because that's its official name according to the International Astronomical Union. It wouldn't work as well for this quiz, though, since Mars doesn't have a less formal name that's more commonly used by laypeople, while Polaris does.
+4
Level 66
May 15, 2020
Some of these 'scientific' names are more well known than the so-called common ones. I didn't know any other term for aurora borealis and I've never heard of a kneecap.
+4
Level 65
May 15, 2020
Isn't SARS-CoV-2 the scientific name for a specific type of coronavirus with the common name COVID-19? I thought there were many other coronaviruses out there, and they're not all called "SARS-CoV-2", are they?
+1
Level 82
May 15, 2020
Not exactly. I had typed something here about this. Seems to have gone missing now.
+2
Level 54
May 15, 2020
Yes, it should be changed to "novel coronavirus"
+2
Level 66
May 16, 2020
I mean, the quiz asks for the common name, and if I mention "the coronavirus", no one's gonna ask me which coronavirus I mean.
+1
Level 34
May 15, 2020
I was thinking shoulder bone for clavicle, so I was wrong.
+3
Level 67
May 16, 2020
Would it be possible to accept "vine" instead of "grape"? Vitis vinifera is actually the plant species, not the fruit…
+1
Level 41
Jun 6, 2021
Learning Latin served me well
+1
Level 79
Feb 26, 2022
For the 'edible plant' I did think of grape, but didn't enter it as I thought it was a fruit!
+2
Level 61
Feb 26, 2022
I kept thinking the Pan Troglodytes was a Mountain Goat- but you learn something new everyday. Interesting Quiz :-)
+1
Level 68
Feb 28, 2022
This is a fun quiz! Just missed the least guessed two, though I was kicking myself.
+1
Level 67
Mar 27, 2022
Interesting quiz. More needed.
+1
Level ∞
Jun 28, 2023
Added another minute
+4
Level 55
Aug 9, 2023
So "COVID-19" is the disease. It actually stands for "Corona Virus Disease, originating in 2019". SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes it. Not quite the same thing - bit like saying HIV and AIDS are the same thing, or Herpes Simplex Virus and Herpes. One is the aetiological agent, i.e. the "virus", and one is the pathophysiological manifestation, i.e. the "disease". Loved the quiz though!
+1
Level 78
Dec 9, 2023
Aurora Borealis!? At this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the country, localized entirely within your kitchen!?!?
+1
Level 66
Dec 9, 2023
Chimps don't live in caves!
+2
Level 75
Dec 9, 2023
I always heard "BSE" a lot more than mad cow disease.
+1
Level 27
Dec 9, 2023
Hey! Minor point, when you have Corvus listed as a genus, I would expect the common name answer to also be the genus. As you have it, you're accepting species under the "corvid" genus. So, two options, either have the hint say species in this genus (and also include magpies, jays, etc.), or actually have the answer be "Corvid"
+1
Level 64
Dec 10, 2023
SARS-CoV-2 is the name of the virus. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the virus.

So, they do not actually refer to the same thing.

+1
Level ∞
Dec 10, 2023
This is perhaps true in scientific literature but not in common English which this quiz is asking about.
+2
Level 32
Dec 10, 2023
Help I'm french and in french we literally say "clavicule" and "aurore boréales" so i had no clue what to type for those in english lol
+1
Level 49
Mar 16, 2024
dammit! missed chimpanzee got mixed up with the wren Troglodytes troglodytes