In this episode of pplpod, we take a deep dive into one of the strangest corners of paleontology: a small Upper Triassic cynodont discovered in France that appears in scientific records with its name in quotation marks because its genus name is invalid.

The creature was described in 1997 and intended to be called “Hania” obliqua (as referenced in the source transcript), but there was one major problem: the genus name had already been used for a spider. Under the strict rules of zoological nomenclature and the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), two animal genera cannot share the same name — which leaves this fossil species stuck in a bizarre state of taxonomic limbo until  ...