The Key to Scientific Names
- podiceps
L. podex, podicis vent, anus; pes, pedis foot < Gr. πους pous, ποδος podos foot.
● "*4. Ard. podiceps, Bp. Mus. Paris. a Berniero 1834. ex Madagascar." (Bonaparte 1855); probably alluding to the vaguely grebe-like plumage, slender bill and short tail of the Little Bittern (subsp. Ixobrychus minutus).
● "68. COLYMBUS. ... Podiceps. 4. C. pedibus lobatis, corpore fusco, rostro fascia sesqui altera. Podiceps minor, rostro vario. Catesb. car. 1. p. 91. t. 91. Habitat in America septentrionali." (Linnaeus 1758) (Podilymbus).- PODICEPS
(Podicipedidae; Ϯ Great Crested Grebe P. cristatus) L. podex, podicis vent, anus; pes, pedis foot < Gr. πους pous, ποδος podos foot; the legs of the Great Crested Grebe are set back to the rear of the body, giving rise to a former name “Arsefoot” which may have influenced Latham's coinage; "GENUS LXXIX. GREBE. PODICEPS, (Colymbus, Lin.)" (Latham 1787); "Podiceps Latham, 1787, General Synop. Birds, Suppl., p. 294. Type, by subsequent designation (G. R. Gray, 1840, List Gen. Birds, p. 76) and under plenary powers of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, 1956, Opin. Decl. Rend., 13, p. 4, Colymbus cristatus Linnaeus." (Storer in Peters, 1979, I, 2nd ed., p. 148) (see Podicipes).
Var. Pocicpes.
Synon. Calipareus, Colymbus, Dytes, Lophaithyia, Otodytes, Pedetaithya, Podicephorus, Podicipes, Proctopus, Thiornis.
● (Podicipedidae; syn. Podilymbus † Pied-billed Grebe P. podiceps) “Genera et Species typicae. ... 2. *Podiceps LATHAM. carolinensis (Colymb. — Briss.) Lath. “Podilymbus” Lesson. Tab. II. Caput, ala, pes. – Ic. Av. t. 9. ic. 2236. t. 13. ic. 756—60.” (Reichenbach 1853); “Podiceps “Latham” Reichenbach, 1853, Avium Systema Naturale, p. III (not of Latham, 1787). Doubtless Reichenbach abhorred Podilymbus Lesson, 1831, as barbarous; nonetheless whether treated as a new or a replacement name the type is still the same, Podiceps carolinensis Latham, 1790 = Colymbus podiceps Linnaeus, 1758.” (JAJ 2022).
