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© Copyright 2001, Jim Loy
The koala (picture) is often called a koala bear. Of course it is
not a bear, but a marsupial. It is much more closely related to a kangaroo than
to a bear. So we should be calling it a koala; forget the "bear." Similarly,
the panda is also called a panda bear. The panda is rather closely related to
bears, but it is not a bear.
I began thinking about misnomers like these lately, when I saw a
pronghorn antelope (see the picture), which is not really an antelope at all,
but is technically a deer. But its real name is pronghorn antelope, not
pronghorn deer. Similarly, a guinea pig is not a pig, but that is its name.
Bison are not buffalo, as they are often called (See Buffalo Bisons). And the extinct Irish elk was neither
Irish nor an elk. An aardvark is not a vark (aardvark is Dutch for "earth
pig"). The platypus is often called the duckbill platypus, although its bill is
not very much like a duck's bill. By now, everyone should recognize the name
platypus without the word "duckbill" on the front. The flying fox is a huge
bat.
A tuna really is a fish. So it is not incorrect to call it (and its meat) tuna fish; it is just redundant. But crayfish, silver fish, cuttle fish, star fish, and any number of shell fish are not fish. Of course the sea horse is not a horse, it's a ... What the heck is a sea horse? It's a fish. The sea lion is not a lion. And the sea cucumber and sea anemone are animals, not plants.
Who cares what they are called? If you say "koala bear" then I think you are showing a small amount of ignorance, and you should care. Maybe not?