Lophotriccus
loff-oh-TRIK-us
Genus
the crested tody-tyrant
Literally: crested Triccus (tody-tyrant flycatcher)
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| lopho- | a crest, tuft | Greek (loph, -o) | combining form with -o- connector |
| -triccus | a tody-tyrant flycatcher; ultimately from a small bird named by Aristotle, adopted as the genus Triccus by Cabanis (1844–45) for small Tyrannidae | no language (taxonomic coinage) (triccus) | used here as a combining element; its own pre-Linnaean etymology is uncertain |
| -us | nominative singular masculine ending | Latin | standard Latin genus-name ending |
A compound genus name formed from the Greek combining form lopho- ('crest, tuft') prefixed to the established genus name Triccus (tody-tyrant flycatchers), yielding 'crested Triccus'. The -o- is the standard Greek connecting vowel. The whole word is treated as a Latin masculine nominative singular noun, as required for ICZN genus names.
Pronunciation
- loff-oh-TRIK-us Penult rule 5: the penult vowel (i) is short but followed by two consonants (cc), so the penult is stressed.
Other readings
A superficially possible reading lop- ('scale') + phot- ('light') + -riccus is rejected: it has no ornithological sense and cuts across the well-established genus name Triccus.
The element triccus is not a productive classical Greek or Latin root but a taxonomic coinage by Cabanis; it appears in the dictionary as an established combining element for tody-tyrant flycatchers. Lophotriccus is a valid extant genus of tody-tyrants (Tyrannidae) found in South and Central America; the name refers to the prominent crest characteristic of these small flycatchers.