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Some Names and their Meanings
The so-called Latin names of animals seem to have three main foundations: Latin, Greek, and
the proper names of persons and places. The vast majority of names are simply the words for
the animals in one or other classical language; in some cases, vernacular names from other
tongues have been Latinised to make them conform. The Latin possessive form of a proper name
is usually used for the second, or specific, part of a binomial, but the proper name may also
be used for the genus in order to honour someone, as in the case of Latimeria chalumnae,
the surviving coelacanth discovered by
Marjorie Latimer.
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Museum Entrance