Names
The name “blue wildebeest” derives from a conspicuous silvery-blue sheen to its short-haired hide, differentiating this species from the plainer black wildebeest. (The plural is denoted either "wildebeest" or "wildebeests".) Other common terms for wildebeest include gnu ( /ˈnuː/ or /ˈnjuː/) and nyumbu (Swahili). The name "gnu" originates from the Khoikhoi name for these animals, gnou.
The blue wildebeest is sometimes called brindled gnu. The blue wildebeest and black wildebeest or white-tailed gnu (C. gnou) are the two species of the genus Connochaetes, within the family Bovidae, which includes antelopes, cattle, goats, and other even-toed horned ungulates.
The animal's specific name taurinus is Latin for "like a bull".
Read more about this topic: Blue Wildebeest
Famous quotes containing the word names:
“The names of all fine authors are fictitious ones, far more so than that of Junius,—simply standing, as they do, for the mystical, ever-eluding Spirit of all Beauty, which ubiquitously possesses men of genius.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“Watt’s need of semantic succour was at times so great that he would set to trying names on things, and on himself, almost as a woman hats.”
—Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)
“Row after row with strict impunity
The headstones yield their names to the element,
The wind whirrs without recollection....”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)