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Glite Dictionary
Raphus cucullatus

Raphus cucullatus

9.9
A large flightless bird from Mauritius now extinct and related to pigeons
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : Raphus cucullatus
  • The discovery of Raphus cucullatus remains on Mauritius helped scientists understand the extinction of the dodo.

Examples

  • Research into Raphus cucullatus has revealed its close relation to modern pigeons.

  • The Raphus cucullatus was native to Mauritius.

  • Taxonomists now classify the dodo under the genus Raphus cucullatus.

  • Did you know the Raphus cucullatus could not fly?

  • The extinct bird known as Raphus cucullatus is often associated with the evolution of flightless species.

  • Scientists are studying the Raphus cucullatus to learn more about its habitat and living conditions in Mauritius.

  • The Raphus cucullatus was a unique species in the ecosystem of Mauritius before its extinction.

Synonyms

dodo
vsRaphus cucullatus
12 8.4

A large bird from Mauritius that cannot fly and is now extinct

is the scientific name used in formal taxonomy for the same bird

Surface Forms

Raphus cucullatus singular
Raphus cucullatuses plural

Morphology

Raphus + cucullatus

This is a Latin scientific name (binomial) whose referent (the dodo) is not compositionally built from ordinary English words; even if a learner knew the constituent tokens, they would need taxonomic or Latin knowledge to link them to the extinct bird. Scientific names are language-specific conventions rather than transparent lexical combinations, so a B1 learner would not be able to derive the meaning from the parts.

Etymology

Raphus cucullatus is the scientific name for the dodo. The second word cucullatus comes from Latin meaning 'hooded' and gives the image of a large, round bird with a thick neck and small head, like a bird wearing a hood, so the name points to the bird we now call the 'dodo'.