Quiz: popular dog name or popular baby name?

4718911689_76481d1ffa_mFor many people, household pets are fully integrated members of the family. That being the case, it should come as no surprise that many of the traditional names that were once almost exclusively given to canines (e.g. Rex, King, and, yes Lassie) have given way to decidedly more human monikers. In the Australia’s newspaper, The Guardian, you can try your luck at determining which names came from the most popular baby name list and which ones came from the most popular dog name list.

Most popular and unusual Australian dog names and breeds revealed

526426766_c7d224c375_mIn Australia, a popular news feature has become the annual list of the most popular names given to household pets. Recently, however, government officials and naming enthusiasts down under have given a new twist to this onomastic perennial: a list of the most popular dog names given by breed. For example, while the most commonly given name for Labrador retrievers is “Molly”, for Rottweilers and Chihuahua, the most popular names so far for 2016 are “Missy” and “Toby”.

Kitten-sized extinct ‘lion’ named after David Attenborough

356646479_4d423c1177_mOnce upon a time, a miniature feline predator prowled Australia’s underbrush on the search for unsuspecting birds, frogs, insects, and lizards. For several decades, this razor-toothed, pre-historic marsupial lion has been the subject of intense study among the paleontologists of Australia’s Riversleigh World Heritage Fossil Site (WHFS). However, this year, the extinct mini hunter has also caught the attention of animal name lovers. In honor of Sir David Attenborough’s tireless support of the WHFS, the species has been officially named Microleo Attenboroughi.