Animals that are named after Bengal
Bengal is inextricably linked to life, awaiting discoveries and comprehension. Around 60 animals have been named after this historic region, ranging from marine snails to wild cats
Species that comes with Bengali, Bengala, Bengalia or epithet like bengalensis, bengalus or bangladeshensis is usually described from Bengal, the historical region comprising West Bengal, India, and most of Bangladesh of the present day.
In Bangladesh, around 60 animals have received or once received this interesting title from the researchers who studied and discovered them. Almost all of them live on Bangladesh's sovereign territory.
A cat, a rat, a fox, and a primate
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Beginning from the most advanced animal groups, four mammals have bengal attached with their name: the Bengal fox Vulpes bengalensis, lesser bandicoot rat Bandicota bengalensis, leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis and the Bengal slow loris Nycticebus bengalensis.
The birds of Bengal
In terms of number, the birds come first with the names of this kind. Around nine bird species in Bangladesh have names that include the name of the region. These are lesser coucal Centropus bengalensis, lesser crested tern Thalasseus bengalensis, white-rumped vulture Gyps bengalensis, and the Indian grass-babbler Graminicola bengalensis.
The remaining five have the title with slight customisation. There appears the Indian roller Coracius benghalensis, black-rumped flameback Dinopium benghalense, black-breasted weaver Ploceus benghalensis, and greater painted snipe Rostratula benghalensis. The Bengal florican Houbaropsis bengalensis roams in grasslands of India and Nepal, and once lived in Bangladesh.
The red-cheeked cordon-bleu Uraeginthus bengalus, a type of finches, stands out from the rest. It does rather occur in Africa instead of the region of Bengal. The name was coined in 1760 by French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson, who believed the stuffed specimen he studied had come from Bengal. Now, we know the cordon-bleu is from Africa, but the name has prevailed.
The sole lizard
Varanus bengalensis is common everywhere, from urban greenery and village groves to forested areas.
Pisces bengalensis
About three marine fishes with such names thrive in the Bay of Bengal. The mottled eel Anguilla bengalensis, the Bengal sergeant-major Abudefduf bengalensis, the Bengal snapper Lutjanus bengalensis are three fish species embossed with the legend bengalensis. Recently, two more fishes, a puffer and a damselfish, are named such by the researchers of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University. We now call them Chelodontops bengalensis and Pomacentrus bangladeshius respectively.
Of freshwater counterparts, the Bengal barb did once have the genus Bengala, but now it has been renamed as Megarasbora. Though it is dissolved, a genus named after the Bengal still makes a count!
Critters
The glory of Bengal cone snail Conus bengalensis, armed with deadly venom stinger, lives along the shallow shelf of the southeast Bay of Bengal, near the Andaman Islands and the coast of Myanmar and Thailand. This godly patterned cone snail was once revered monetarily.
A minute mangrove fiddler crab, the Bengal fiddler crab Uca bengali, a parasitic relative of shrimps, the Bengal lernaea Lernanea bengalensis owns similar surname, and the Bengal argulus Argulus bengalensis falls under this categorisation.
The Bengali geolina Polymesoda bengalensis is a common mussel of the Bay of Bengal. There are two worms in Bangladesh that fall under the discussion: Chloeia bengalensis and Platynereis bengalensis. If we consider microscopic animals, the list will go on.
Bengal, as we see, is fused with life, awaiting discoveries and comprehension.
