Dasylophus
DAS-ih-lo-fus
Genus
shaggy-crested
Literally: hairy/shaggy crest
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| dasy- | hairy, shaggy | Greek (das, -i, -y) | combining form dasy-, from Greek dasys |
| -loph- | a crest, tuft | Greek (loph, -i, -o, =us) | stem loph-; the full nominative form is lophus |
| -us | Latin nominative singular masculine ending | Latin | standard Latinized genus name ending; masculine gender |
A compound Greek noun Latinized as a masculine second-declension genus name (-us). The first element dasy- (shaggy) modifies the head noun loph- (crest), yielding a descriptive noun meaning 'shaggy crest'. The name refers to the prominent, dense crest of the crested coucals (birds, family Cuculidae) placed in this genus.
Pronunciation
- DAS-ih-lo-fus Four syllables: da-sy-lo-phus. Penult 'lo' has a short vowel followed by a single consonant (ph = one sound), so the penult is light; stress falls on the antepenult 'sy', which is short (vowel y/i followed by single consonant l then vowel o, but o is not e/i/y, so the antepenult vowel is short). Result: stress on the antepenult, DAS-ih-lo-fus.
Other readings
A split at syl- + lop- + hus is theoretically detectable but makes no biological sense; dasy- + loph- is the only plausible segmentation.
Dasylophus is a genus of coucals (Cuculidae) from the Philippines; the name alludes to their bushy, shaggy crests. The match for syl- and lop- at overlapping positions within the word are artefacts of the search; they play no role in the actual etymology. The -us ending is listed in the dictionary both as a Latin nominative masculine suffix and as a Greek structural suffix; here the Latin nominative function applies, as is standard for Latinized genus names.