The Key to Scientific Names

Edited by James A. Jobling
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jynx

L. iynx, iyngis  wryneck  < Gr. ιυγξ iunx, ιυγγος iungos  wryneck (syn. Jynx torquilla).


JYNX

(Picidae; Ϯ Eurasian Wryneck J. torquilla) L. iynx, iyngis  wryneck  < Gr. ιυγξ iunx, ιυγγος iungos  wryneck, a bird wrought large in ancient superstition, especially as a charm to bring back a strayed lover (the unfortunate bird being tied to a length of string and whirled around)  < ιυζω iuzō  to shout  < ιυ iu  exclamation of surprise (cf. Gr. myth. Iynx, one of the Pierides, who, having failed to best the Muses in a singing contest, was transformed into a bird; in former times it was not a good idea to challenge the Muses!); "53. JYNX.  Rostrum teretiusculum, acuminatum.  Nares concavæ.  Lingua teres, lumbriciformis, longissima, apice mucronata." (Linnaeus 1758); "Jynx Linné, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 1, 1758, p. 112. Type, by monotypy, Jynx torquilla Linné." (Peters, 1948, VI, p. 86). Linnaeus's Jynx comprised a single species. 
Var. InxIunx, Iynx (Sundevall, 1866, Consp. Avium Picinarum, p. 107, treated Jynx Linnaeus, 1758, as a lapsus for Iynx), Junx, Ynx, YunxYunz.
Synon. Torquilla.


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