Atalotriccus
at-a-lo-TRIK-us
Genus
"the delicate tody-tyrant" — a small, gentle-looking tyrant flycatcher allied to the genus Triccus
Literally: delicate (or tender) little tody-tyrant flycatcher
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atalo- | tender, delicate, young | Greek (atalos) | Greek ἁταλός; used as a prefix in several ornithological genus names to convey smallness and delicacy; not found in the dictionary — general knowledge |
| -tricc- | genus Triccus — small tody-tyrant flycatchers (Tyrannidae); coined by Cabanis & Heine 1859; own classical etymology uncertain | New Latin (from Greek) (tricc) | combining form of Triccus, used as the head element; ultimately linked to the ancient bird name triccus mentioned in Aristotle's Historia Animalium |
| -us | Latin nominative singular ending, masculine gender | Latin | standard genus-name termination |
Atalotriccus is a compound genus name. The head is the established genus stem tricc- (from Triccus, Cabanis & Heine 1859), denoting small tody-tyrant flycatchers. The prefix atalo- (Greek atalos, 'tender, delicate') is a modifier expressing the diminutive, delicate character of the birds. The whole word is treated as a Latin masculine noun in the nominative singular, as required for a genus name under the ICZN. No epithet is given; the name stands alone as a monoword genus.
Pronunciation
- at-a-lo-TRIK-us Penult rule 5: the penult vowel (i in 'tric') is short but is followed by two consonants (cc), so the penult is stressed.
Other readings
One could read 'atal-' as from Greek atalant- ('equal to'), giving 'equal to Triccus', but this interpretation is far less supported by ornithological naming convention than atalos ('tender/delicate').
The root atalos (Greek ἁταλός, 'tender, delicate, young') is not in the dictionary; it is identified from general etymological knowledge and from its well-documented use in ornithological genus names (e.g. Atalotriccus pilaris, pale-eyed pygmy-tyrant, described by Ridgway 1905). Confidence is high despite the dictionary gap. The ancient bird name triccus (Aristotle, Historia Animalium) has uncertain classical etymology; the dictionary entry acknowledges this explicitly. The Latin roots talo- ('ankle/heel') and lot- ('washing') found by the scanner at overlapping positions are false matches produced by substring search and play no part in this name's formation.