Common names often refer to an animal's size, shape, color, where it lives or even its behavior. Guess how these animals might have gotten their common names: blue shark, white whale, river dolphin or spinner dolphin.
Since many animals are found in more than one place you can imagine how many different "common names" they might have in many different languages.
If there can be many common names for a plant or animal how would one scientist know she is talking about the same species as another scientist from another place or country?
Simple, scientists from all over the world use the same name to identify each species of plant or animals. We call these "scientific names." Scientific names are often parts of greek or latin words. For example, the harbor seal's scientific name is Phoca vitulina. Phoca comes from a greek word phoce which means seal.
A scientific name may describe the plant or animal in some way. Maybe where it lives. Its color or shape. Or even who discovered it.
Can you guess where you might find this sea lion? Part of its scientific name refers to the coast it lives along - Zalophus californianus.
Sometimes the scientific name refers to a person. For example, the scientific name of the Hubbs Beaked Whale is Mesoplodon carlhubbsi. It is named after Carl Hubbs, a well-known marine scientist.
Do you recognize any of these scientific names? Orcinus orca; Inia geoffrensis; or Eschrichtius robustus
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