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Metazoa > Chordata > Aves > Podicipediformes > Podicepidae
Familia Podicepidae
General information
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Problematic nomenclature
There is considerable disagreement concerning the correct spelling of
the family name. Most authors spell it "Podicipedidae", others spell it
as "Podicipitidae", whereas I use here the spelling "Podicepidae". All
the different spellings have in common, that they derive the family name
from the genus name Podiceps. The different spellings result from
divergent interpretations of the etymology of the genus name Podiceps.
1) The spelling "Podicipedidae" assumes that the word "Podiceps" is
formed from the Latin words "podex, -icis" (= rump) and "pes, -dis" (=
foot) and thus means "foot-on-rump" and refers to the unusual posterior
position of the legs in grebes. In this interpretation "Podiceps" is
interpreted as "Podici-p(e)s", and the genitive stem is then
Podicip(e)d-, to which is added the family ending -idae. This
interpretation is problematic, because it has to assume that the last
part of "Podiceps" is lacking the letter "e" in the word "pes". In
addition, the first part of Podiceps should better be interpreted as the
ablative case of podex: podice-p(e)s, which would also be more correct
in terms of Latin grammar, if the composite word really means
"foot-on-rump". The family name, however, should then be "Podicepedidae"
not "Podicipedidae".
2) The spelling "Podicipitidae" assumes that the word "Podiceps" is
formed from the Latin words "podex, -icis" (= rump) and "ceps" which is
said to be a New Latin word for "head". Obviously, this word is believed
to be inflected like the Standard Latin word for "head" which is caput,
capitis, i.e. ceps, cepitis. I have not found any evidence for a use of
the word "ceps" in the Latin language, neither in Standard nor in New
Latin. In addition, the genitive stem of "cepitis" is then "cepit-"
which would result in Podicepitidae, not Podicipitidae as the family
name. Finally, the meaning would be "rump-headed", which does not agree with the long neck of the grebes.
3) I suggest here a different interpretation of the word "Podiceps" that
assumes a different etymology. In my opinion, the word consists of
"podi - cap - s", with "podi" tracing from podex, podicis (rump) and
"cap" tracing from capio (to take, to attain, to capture). This is in
analogy to e.g. "particeps" (the Latin word for "participant") that consists of
"parti - cap - s" tracing from "pars, partis" (= part, portion) and
"capio". The meaning of Podiceps is thus "taking a position on the
rump", probably referring to the habit of the grebes to "sit" on their
rump. The genitive is formed in analogy of "particeps, participis", and
is thus "podicipis". The genitive stem is therefore: podicip-, and the
correct family name would be Podicipidae.
Although I regard the third interpretation as the correct etymological
interpretation of the name "Podiceps", there is no way of being sure
and, thus, controversy would remain. I therefore advocate here a fourth
interpretation that is independent of this etymological dispute and is
based on the regulations of the International Commision of Zoological Nomenclature (1999).
4) The original description of the family name was published by Bonaparte (1831). He used the name at subfamily rank, but because of the Principle of Coordination (Article 36.1. of the Code),
this description is also to be regarded as the description of the
family. The spelling used by Bonaparte is "Podicepinae". This indicates,
that he did not form it according to any of the three possibilities
above. Instead, he obviously uses the stem "podicep-" and then adds the
subfamily ending -inae. Because the etymology of "Podiceps" is unclear (see the dispute above),
it is impossible to define a correct etymology or a correct genitive stem. In
other words, Bonaparte´s use of the stem "podicep-" is not to be
regarded as incorrect or any "better" than "podiciped-" or "podicipit-".
Because Bonaparte´s spelling must not be regarded as incorrect, it is thus the
correct original spelling and must not be changed or emended (Article 33
of the Code). I therefore think, to use the original spelling of the original author, that also agrees with all provisions of the Code, is an acceptable alternative to the etymological dispute.
Thus, I regard Podicepidae as the valid name of the family. However, the valid name of the order is still Podicipediformes (not Podicepiformes), because names of ranks higher than the family group are not regulated by the Code and therefore do not have to adhere to its rules.
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This page has been
updated on October 30, 2013
This site is online since May 31, 2005
Copyright © by Nikola-Michael Prpic-Schäper. All rights
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