List of taxa named after human genitals

This a list of species, genera, and other biological taxa named after human genitals.

Illustration of Orchis militaris — Orchis militaris, a member of the Orchidaceae family. The genus name originates in the Ancient Greek ὄρχις (órkhis), or "testicle", due to the shape of the twin tubers.

Background

Pubescens. The word originates from the Latin pubes, "adult, full-grown";^[1] "genital area, groin"^[2] (e.g., Pubis); "the down or soft hair which begins to grow on young persons when they come to the age of puberty".^[3] The use of the term in biology to refer to hairiness or soft down is recorded since 1760 for plants and since 1826 for insects.^[1]
Vaginalis. The common specific name is derived from the Latin vagina, originally meaning "sheath, scabbard, covering; sheath of an ear of grain, hull, husk."^[4] The specific epithet may refer to a sheathed trait or habit of an organism (e.g. Alysicarpus vaginalis), or may refer to resemblance/relation to the vagina (e.g. Gardnerella vaginalis)^[5]

Plants

Flower of Clitoria ternatea — Flower of Clitoria ternatea

Families

Orchidaceae. The type genus is Orchis, whose name comes from the Ancient Greek ὄρχις (órkhis), literally meaning "testicle", because of the shape of the twin tubers in some species of Orchis.^[6]

Genera

Species

Amorphophallus titanum — Amorphophallus titanum

Varieties

Capsicum annum annum var. annum 'penis pepper'

Fungi

Phallus impudicus — Phallus impudicus

Orders

Phallales

Families

Phallaceae

Genera

Phallus^[10]

Species

Animals

Genera

Phallichthys. The genus name literally means "phallus (penis) fish",^[12] from the Greek phallos meaning "penis" and ichthys meaning "fish",^[13] referring to the "comparatively huge" gonopodium, the modified anal fin used for copulation.^[12]
Xenophallus. The genus name translates to "strange penis".^[14]

Species

Trypauchen vagina

Subspecies

Muntiacus muntjak vaginalis

Animal fossils

Scrotum humanum

References

^ ^a ^b Harper, Douglas. "pubescence (n.)". Online etymology dictionary. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
^ Harper, Douglas. "pubis (n.)". Online etymology dictionary. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
^ Valpy, Francis Edward Jackson (1828). An etymological dictionary of the Latin language. London: Printed by A.J. Valpy, sold by Baldwin and Co. p. 377. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
^ Harper, Douglas. "vagina (n.)". Online etymology dictionary. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
^ Gmelin, Johann Friedrich (1789). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 2 (13th ed.). Lipsiae [Leipzig]: Georg. Emanuel. Beer. p. 705.
^ ^a ^b Hyam, R. & Pankhurst, R.J. (1995). Plants and their names : a concise dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 356. ISBN 978-0-19-866189-4.
^ Quattrocchi, Umberto (1999). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology. CRC Press. p. 118. ISBN 9780849326738.
^ Fantz, Paul R. (2000). "Nomenclatural Notes on the Genus Clitoria for the Flora North American Project". Castanea. 65 (2): 89–92. JSTOR 4034108.
^ Blackledge, Catherine (2020). Raising the Skirt: The Unsung Power of the Vagina. Hachette UK. ISBN 9781474615846.
^ Schaechter E, Wilson N. "Modern English Translation of Hadrianus Junius' 1564 work on Phallus hadrianii". A mycological voice from the past. Archived from the original on 2013-01-19. Retrieved 2010-10-25.
^ Vaillant, Sébastien (1727). Botanicon Parisiense (in Latin). Leide & Amsterdam: J. H. Verbeek and B. Lakeman. OCLC 5146641.
^ ^a ^b Hellweg, Mike. "Meet the Merry Widows: The Genus Phallichthys". Tropical Fish Hobbyist Magazine. Archived from the original on 26 August 2023. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Phallichthys amates". FishBase. August 2023 2023 version.
^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Xenophallus umbratilis". FishBase. August 2012 version.