Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_rat

• Genus name: Rattus
• Species name: rattus
• Subspecies name: rattus

You'd actually say it as R. rattus rattus or Rattus r. rattus.

Rat^3^

Crucially, I forgot to note the taxonomist who described it:

Offhand I think that be the case for every/most type species.

Nevil Maskelyne would appreciate this

Also, the scientific name of the Western lowland gorilla is gorilla gorilla gorilla. You’d say it as G. g. gorilla.

Rat cubed.

Gorilla gorilla gorilla as well

Not nearly, actually! Exact tautonyms are pretty uncommon, all things considered. Trinomial tautonyms even less so, like Bison bison bison. I don't think I can give you actual data, but I can say knowing a fair bit of marine taxonomy that it's the exception there.

Edit: It's also prohibited in botany and, I learned today, used to be prohibited for bacteria.

Edit 2: Wikipedia maintains an incomplete list, incidentally.

Edit 3: Forgot to mention I was specifically talking about binomial/trinomial tautonyms. Near-tautonyms are very common as you go up toward the middle of the tree of life, e.g. a family, superfamily, and order sharing basically the same name, just with a different prescribed suffix.

I had Fire Salamanders for a long time and their scientific name was Salamandra salamandra salamandra (or S. s. salamandra)

Vulpes vulpes vulpes is another one, I'm gonna guess that all these triple names are from the eighteenth century, when the dude said this subspecies is the regular one so I'll keep repeating the name to make it clear. Like vulgaris in plants.

Ratatatata

Rattus R. Rattus has some real Chuck E. Cheese energy.

Rattus R. Rattus is his well-to-do British uncle.

The OG

Similarly, the Eurasian Brown Bear is Ursus Arctos Arctos (U. a. arctos) which just means Bear Bear Bear in Latin and Ancient Greek, respectively 😄

$ wget https://www.itis.gov/downloads/itisMySQLTables.tar.gz
$ unp -U itisMySQLTables.tar.gz
$ cd itisMySQL072826
$ cut -d'|' -f2 longnames|grep -iE '^([^ ]+) \1 \1$'
Porites porites porites
Volva volva volva
Modiolus modiolus modiolus
Quadrula quadrula quadrula
Arcinella arcinella arcinella
Echiurus echiurus echiurus
Sprattus sprattus sprattus
Lepadogaster lepadogaster lepadogaster
Pungitius pungitius pungitius
Caretta caretta caretta
Puffinus puffinus puffinus
Sula sula sula
Anhinga anhinga anhinga
Nycticorax nycticorax nycticorax
Lagopus lagopus lagopus
Perdix perdix perdix
Limosa limosa limosa
Alle alle alle
Apus apus apus
Riparia riparia riparia
Troglodytes troglodytes troglodytes
Cardinalis cardinalis cardinalis
Coccothraustes coccothraustes coccothraustes
Pyrrhula pyrrhula pyrrhula
Carduelis carduelis carduelis
Pica pica pica
Oenanthe oenanthe oenanthe
Ciconia ciconia ciconia
Bison bison bison
Clelia clelia clelia
Phocoena phocoena phocoena
Gulo gulo gulo
Hyaena hyaena hyaena
Nasua nasua nasua
Belone belone belone
Lerwa lerwa lerwa
Francolinus francolinus francolinus
Coturnix coturnix coturnix
Gallus gallus gallus
Crossoptilon crossoptilon crossoptilon
Zungaro zungaro zungaro
Bubo bubo bubo
Amazilia amazilia amazilia
Coeligena coeligena coeligena
Porphyrio porphyrio porphyrio
Grus grus grus
Manacus manacus manacus
Pipra pipra pipra
Suiriri suiriri suiriri
Anser anser anser
Pauxi pauxi pauxi
Gallinago gallinago gallinago
Caracal caracal caracal
Lynx lynx lynx
Genetta genetta genetta
Vulpes vulpes vulpes
Lutra lutra lutra
Martes martes martes
Meles meles meles
Mephitis mephitis mephitis
Icterus icterus icterus
Curaeus curaeus curaeus
Melanodera melanodera melanodera
Diuca diuca diuca
Nyctelius nyctelius nyctelius
Buteo buteo buteo
Cochlearius cochlearius cochlearius
Jacana jacana jacana
Milvus milvus milvus
Chinchilla chinchilla chinchilla
Tibicen tibicen tibicen
Avicularia avicularia avicularia
Alces alces alces
Capreolus capreolus capreolus
Dama dama dama
Gazella gazella gazella
Oreotragus oreotragus oreotragus
Rupicapra rupicapra rupicapra
Redunca redunca redunca
Quelea quelea quelea
Regulus regulus regulus
Tchagra tchagra tchagra
Phoenicurus phoenicurus phoenicurus
Petronia petronia petronia
Cinclus cinclus cinclus
Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax
Amandava amandava amandava
Petaurista petaurista petaurista
Marmota marmota marmota
Hoolock hoolock hoolock
Gorilla gorilla gorilla
Indri indri indri
Pithecia pithecia pithecia
Saccolaimus saccolaimus saccolaimus
Molossus molossus molossus
Pipistrellus pipistrellus pipistrellus
Myotis myotis myotis
Chitra chitra chitra
Microchaetus microchaetus microchaetus
Chloris chloris chloris
Giraffa giraffa giraffa
Basiliscus basiliscus basiliscus
Cerastes cerastes cerastes
Natrix natrix natrix
Astacus astacus astacus
Colius colius colius
Chalcides chalcides chalcides
Scincus scincus scincus
Schoeniclus schoeniclus schoeniclus
Radjah radjah radjah
Himantopus himantopus himantopus
Antigone antigone antigone
Pyrope pyrope pyrope
Curruca curruca curruca
Bufo bufo bufo
Vicugna vicugna vicugna
Erythrogenys erythrogenys erythrogenys
$

Bison bison bison

Oh sweet buttery Jesus yes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

to

Buffalo Bison bison bison Buffalo Bison bison bison buffalo buffalo Buffalo Bison bison bison.

Am I blind or is that list missing r. r. rattus?

double checks

It's not in there. Could be that the subspecies classification was recent or undone or controversial or something?

Gorilla Gorilla Allin?

This seems like a fact that John Oliver would bring up.

Nice grep command

Mus musculus was the one I was thinking of. The -culus is just the diminutive suffix.

Rattus Norvegus (common brown rat) was named by that Norwegian Linnaeus guy who came up with the Latin naming scheme for species. They are not particularly Norwegian actually.

Saying its name trice is a summoning chant, which may have worked a bit too well. You should check your house just in case.

Hey that’s Cancer Mouse recoloured!

The GGG

How dare you say he's Norwegian! Those mountain trolls could never spawn someone of such greatness! Next you'll tell me Anders Celsius was Danish, pwah.

Colleagues must think im crying on the toilet but I'm trying to silently laugh tears. Thank you.

If this isn't yet a death metal song, it should be.

The rattest rat

Once. Twice. Three times a rattus.

A. The common brown rat is named Rattus norvegicus

B. Carl Linneaus was Swedish (born in Råshult, near Älmhult, Krononberg County, Småland; died in Hammarby).

C. Your rattus norvegicus was named so by John Berkenhout (English, born in Leeds), who believed the rats migrated to England from Norwegian ships in 1728.
(Source: Berkenhout, John (1769). Outlines of the Natural History of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 1. London: Printed for P. Elmsly (Successor to Mr. Vaillant). p. 5.)

My OCD demanded I take a few minutes and alphabetize that list. Also added the few mentions in the comments that were not included:

Alces alces alces
Alle alle alle
Amandava amandava amandava
Amazilia amazilia amazilia
Anhinga anhinga anhinga
Anser anser anser
Antigone antigone antigone
Apus apus apus
Arcinella arcinella arcinella
Astacus astacus astacus
Avicularia avicularia avicularia

Basiliscus basiliscus basiliscus
Belone belone belone
Bison bison bison
Bubo bubo bubo
Bufo bufo bufo
Buteo buteo buteo

Capreolus capreolus capreolus
Caracal caracal caracal
Carduelis carduelis carduelis
Cardinalis cardinalis cardinalis
Caretta caretta caretta
Cerastes cerastes cerastes
Chalcides chalcides chalcides
Chinchilla chinchilla chinchilla
Chitra chitra chitra
Chloris chloris chloris
Ciconia ciconia ciconia
Cinclus cinclus cinclus
Clelia clelia clelia
Coccothraustes coccothraustes coccothraustes
Cochlearius cochlearius cochlearius
Coeligena coeligena coeligena
Colius colius colius
Coturnix coturnix coturnix
Crossoptilon crossoptilon crossoptilon
Curaeus curaeus curaeus
Curruca curruca curruca

Dama dama dama
Diuca diuca diuca

Echiurus echiurus echiurus
Erythrogenys erythrogenys erythrogenys

Francolinus francolinus francolinus

Gallinago gallinago gallinago
Gallus gallus gallus
Gazella gazella gazella
Genetta genetta genetta
Giraffa giraffa giraffa
Gorilla gorilla gorilla
Grus grus grus
Gulo gulo gulo

Himantopus himantopus himantopus
Hoolock hoolock hoolock
Hyaena hyaena hyaena

Icterus icterus icterus
Indri indri indri

Jacana jacana jacana

Lagopus lagopus lagopus
Lepadogaster lepadogaster lepadogaster
Lerwa lerwa lerwa
Limosa limosa limosa
Lutra lutra lutra
Lynx lynx lynx

Manacus manacus manacus
Marmota marmota marmota
Martes martes martes
Melanodera melanodera melanodera
Meles meles meles
Mephitis mephitis mephitis
Microchaetus microchaetus microchaetus
Milvus milvus milvus
Modiolus modiolus modiolus
Molossus molossus molossus
Myotis myotis myotis

Nasua nasua nasua
Natrix natrix natrix
Nyctelius nyctelius nyctelius
Nycticorax nycticorax nycticorax

Oenanthe oenanthe oenanthe
Oreotragus oreotragus oreotragus

Pauxi pauxi pauxi
Perdix perdix perdix
Petaurista petaurista petaurista
Petronia petronia petronia
Phocoena phocoena phocoena
Phoenicurus phoenicurus phoenicurus
Pica pica pica
Pipistrellus pipistrellus pipistrellus
Pipra pipra pipra
Pithecia pithecia pithecia
Porites porites porites
Porphyrio porphyrio porphyrio
Puffinus puffinus puffinus
Pungitius pungitius pungitius
Pyrope pyrope pyrope
Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax
Pyrrhula pyrrhula pyrrhula

Quadrula quadrula quadrula
Quelea quelea quelea

Radjah radjah radjah
Rattus rattus rattus
Redunca redunca redunca
Regulus regulus regulus
Riparia riparia riparia
Rupicapra rupicapra rupicapra

Saccolaimus saccolaimus saccolaimus
Salamandra salamandra salamandra
Schoeniclus schoeniclus schoeniclus
Scincus scincus scincus
Sprattus sprattus sprattus
Suiriri suiriri suiriri
Sula sula sula

Tchagra tchagra tchagra
Tibicen tibicen tibicen
Troglodytes troglodytes troglodytes

Vicugna vicugna vicugna
Volva volva volva
Vulpes vulpes vulpes

Zungaro zungaro zungaro

Sweden had some good ones. Schele is my favourite. If you are a chemist tasting stuff to identify properties is a bad idea.

As a Norwegian myself I like Kristian Birkeland who in order to fund his aurora borealis research invented the Birkeland-Eyde process of fixing nitrogen from the air. Thereby enabeling the mass production of fertilizer

If you are a chemist tasting stuff to identify properties is a bad idea.

I was appalled, reading through these:

1879:

https://web.archive.org/web/20170314015912/https://books.google.com/books?id=f4I9AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA36#v=onepage&q=&f=false

"How did I discover saccharine?" he said. "Well, it was partly by accident and partly by study. I had worked a long time upon the compound radicals and a substitution products of coal tar, and had made a number of scientific discoveries that are, as far as I know, of no commercial value. One evening I was so interested in my laboratory that I forgot about supper until quite late, and then rushed off for a meal without stopping to wash my hands. I sat down, broke a piece of bread, and put it to my lips. It tasted unspeakably sweet. I did not ask why it was so, probably because I thought it was some cake or sweetmeat. I rinsed my mouth with water, and dried my mustached with my napkin, when, to my surprise, the napkin tasted sweeter than the bread. Then I was puzzled. I again raised my goblet, and, as fortune would have it, applied my mouth where my fingers had touched it before. The water seemed sirup. It flashed upon me that I was the cause of the singular universal sweetness, and I accordingly tasted the end of my thumb, and found that it surpassed any confectionary I had ever eaten. I saw the whole thing at a glance. I had discovered or made some coal tar substance which out-sugared sugar. I dropped my dinner and ran back to the laboratory. There, in my excitement, I tasted the contents of every beaker and evaporating dish on the table. Luckily for me, none contained any corrosive or poisonous liquid.

"One of them contained an impure solution of saccharine..."

1965:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame#History

Aspartame was discovered by accident[60] in December 1965[61] by James M. Schlatter, a chemist working for G.D. Searle & Company in Skokie, Illinois. Schlatter had synthesized aspartame as an intermediate step in generating a tetrapeptide of the hormone gastrin, for use in assessing an anti-ulcer drug candidate.[60] He discovered its sweet taste when he licked his finger, which had become contaminated with aspartame, to lift up a piece of paper.[12][62]

1967:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acesulfame_potassium#Discovery

Acesulfame potassium was developed after the accidental discovery of a similar compound (5,6-dimethyl-1,2,3-oxathiazin-4(3H)-one 2,2-dioxide) in 1967 by Karl Clauss and Harald Jensen at Hoechst AG.[16][17] After some of the chemical powder accidentally spilled onto his sweater, Clauss licked his finger to wipe the spots away, which led him to notice its intensely sweet taste.[18][19]

1975:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sucralose

Sucralose was discovered in 1975 by scientists from Tate & Lyle, working with researchers Leslie Hough and Shashikant Phadnis at Queen Elizabeth College (now part of King's College London).[21] While researching novel uses of sucrose and its synthetic derivatives, mixing sulfuryl chloride with sugar, Phadnis was told to "test" a chlorinated sugar compound. According to an anecdotal account, Phadnis thought Hough asked him to "taste" it, so he did and found the compound to be exceptionally sweet.[22][23]

The rat so nice they named it thrice!

Rat in a dollhouse always cheers me up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bYbLv20Q0I