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Opossum? edit
Since the Greeks did not know opossums, Ancient Greek δελφίς cannot have meant "opossum". My best guess is that the name is related to the genus name Didelphis of the large American opossums, which according to Wiktionary is New Latin, from Ancient Greek δι- (di-, "two") + δελφύς (delphús, "womb"). But I have no reference for this. --Lambiam 08:13, 7 December 2017 (UTC)
- Then the name means "dawn womb" or something like that. FunkMonk (talk) 11:44, 7 December 2017 (UTC)
- More likely Matthew, who named the genus, meant to convey the notion of "very early [Di]delphis". Lacking a reliable source, isn't it preferable to omit the presumed etymology? --Lambiam 20:42, 7 December 2017 (UTC)
- Well, the original description is here[1], so that should be the first place to look. FunkMonk (talk) 20:44, 7 December 2017 (UTC)
- Matthew's description gives extensive comparisons with Didelphis (as in, "Angular process similar to Didelphis but broader"), referencing the name Didelphis a total of 18 times, although never explaining his choice of genus name for the newly described species. However, I did find a source stating,
The Latin suffix delphis (from the Greek delphys), which is often used in the generic names of marsupials, is derived from the extant opossum Didelphis Linnaeus, 1758 (Marsupialia, Didelphimorphia, Didelphidae). This use of delphis does not mean 'dolphin', but is derived from the Greek delphys meaning "uterus".
— Murakami, Mizuki; Shimada, Chieko; Hikida, Yoshinori; Soeda, Yuhji (September 2014). "Eodelphinus kabatensis, a replacement name for Eodelphis kabatensis (Cetacea: Delphinoidea: Delphinidae)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 34 (5): 1261. - --Lambiam 21:42, 7 December 2017 (UTC)
- Matthew's description gives extensive comparisons with Didelphis (as in, "Angular process similar to Didelphis but broader"), referencing the name Didelphis a total of 18 times, although never explaining his choice of genus name for the newly described species. However, I did find a source stating,
- Well, the original description is here[1], so that should be the first place to look. FunkMonk (talk) 20:44, 7 December 2017 (UTC)
- More likely Matthew, who named the genus, meant to convey the notion of "very early [Di]delphis". Lacking a reliable source, isn't it preferable to omit the presumed etymology? --Lambiam 20:42, 7 December 2017 (UTC)