Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
suborder Menurae

suborder Menurae

9.9
A group of Australian birds that includes lyrebirds and scrubbirds
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : suborden Menurae
  • The suborder Menurae includes both the famous lyrebirds and the elusive scrubbirds of Australia.

Examples

  • Field guides to Australian birds often highlight members of the suborder Menurae for their unique vocalizations.

  • Researchers debate the evolutionary relationships within the suborder Menurae.

  • The suborder Menurae includes the beautiful lyrebirds.

  • Did you know that the suborder Menurae is unique to Australia?

  • Field guides to Australian birds often highlight members of the suborder Menurae for their unique vocalizations.

  • The suborder Menurae includes both the famous lyrebirds and the elusive scrubbirds of Australia.

  • Researchers debate the evolutionary relationships within the suborder Menurae.

Synonyms

Menurae
vssuborder Menurae
  • Specialized
9.9

A group of birds like lyrebirds and scrubbirds with long fancy tails that copy many sounds

is the formal taxonomic rank for that group and notes Australian origin

Surface Forms

suborder Menurae singular
suborders Menurae plural

Morphology

suborder + Menurae

This is a directly compositional taxonomic phrase: 'suborder' names the classification rank and 'Menurae' names the bird group, so the meaning 'the suborder containing those birds' is clearly derivable from the parts. Taxonomic naming conventions are cross-linguistically regular, so a learner who knows both constituents will readily understand this phrase.

Etymology

Suborder Menurae comes from the scientific name Menura, the name for lyrebirds. Lyrebirds have long tails that look like a 'lyre' and can copy many sounds, so suborder Menurae simply means the 'group' of birds related to them, like lyrebirds and scrubbirds.