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Glite Dictionary
family Raphidae

family Raphidae

9.9
A group of extinct island birds that includes the dodo
  • noun
  • Specialized
: familia Raphidae
  • The family Raphidae includes the famous dodo bird.

Examples

  • Did you know that the family Raphidae is now extinct?

  • Extensive fossil records provide insight into the extinction of birds in the family Raphidae.

  • Extensive fossil records provide insight into the extinction of birds in the family Raphidae.

  • Members of the family Raphidae were native to islands in the Indian Ocean.

  • The family Raphidae is best known for containing the famous dodo.

  • The family Raphidae is best known for containing the famous dodo.

  • Members of the family Raphidae were native to islands in the Indian Ocean.

Synonyms

Raphidae
vsfamily Raphidae
  • Specialized
9.9

A group of extinct birds that could not fly from islands in the Indian Ocean

is the biological family term for the same extinct birds without location detail

Surface Forms

family Raphidae singular
families Raphidae plural

Morphology

family + Raphidae

The phrase is compositional: 'family' denotes a taxonomic grouping and 'Raphidae' is a proper taxonomic name, so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it names a biological family. Taxonomic constructions of the form 'family + name' are cross-linguistically common and follow regular naming conventions, making the meaning directly derivable from the parts.

Etymology

Family Raphidae The name family Raphidae comes from the old scientific name Raphus, used for the dodo. The ending -idae is a common way to name a family, so family Raphidae simply means the group of related extinct island birds, like the dodo and the solitaire.