I, For One, Welcome Our New Demon Bat Overlords - Neatorama

Image: HNHM/Fauna & Flora International

Meet Murina beelzebub, a newly discovered bat species from the tropical forests of Vietnam. And why yes, it is named after the Lord of the Underworld:

The etymology of the species is explained in the Journal of Mammalogy, in which the citation appears: “Beelzebub commonly appears as a high ranking personality of the underworld in Christian texts, in both Old and New testaments, although one of the presumed original meanings of the name is ‘Lord of the Flies’.” Dr Gabor Csorba of the HNHM further clarifies, “We chose the name Beelzebub to reflect the dark ‘diabolic’ colouration of the new species and its fierce protective behaviour in the field.”

Link - via Wired

See also: Satanic Gecko and Prehistoric Giant Frog Named After the Devil

Am I weird for thinking bats are cute?

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no weirder then me .... LOL

but then I like bats too & think hearses make great family station wagons

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What? I'm thoroughly confused as to how someone looked at that adorable widdle black puffball and thought "I shall call it Be'elzebub." If it is fiercely protective, well, would not the very scientists who named it do the same if a strange looking group of giant aliens busted into their homes and took all the food and broke and destroyed everything and then held them just to get a good look at them?

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In the see also...what is a frong? It does sound rather devilish :)

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A devilishly mistyped frog, of course! Fixed - thanks tigerlily!

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FYI, It is likely that the origin of the term Be'elzebub is actually Be'elzebul. Wikipedia relates: "Biblical scholar Thomas Kelly Cheyne suggested that it might be a derogatory corruption of Ba‘al Z?bûl, "Lord of the High Place" (i.e., Heaven) or "High Lord".[12] The word Beelzebub in rabbinical texts is a mockery of the Ba'al religion, which ancient Hebrews considered to be idol (or, false God) worship.[13]"

So, Be'elzebub was never lord of anything in any of the Abrahamic faiths, but is likely rather to be seen as a false idol.

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