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In the science world, common names often have a hidden meaning to them. For instance, greater and lesser often means bigger and smaller, respectively. In the case of the great horned owl, it is called that for two reasons. One, it is huge. Two, there is a big cultural side to it. It is a big, majestic bird that always announces its presence in mysterious darkness. This made people think is should be called the great horned owl, because besides the fact that it's big, the name "horned owl" just did not do the bird justice.

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12y ago

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