pygo-
(paɪgəʊ)
repr. Gr. πῡγο-, combining form of πῡγή rump, used in the formation of zoological terms. pygoˈbranchiate [Gr. βράγχια gills] a., belonging to the Pygobranchia, a group of gastropods having the gills arranged round the anus; so pygoˈbranchious a. pygoˈmelian [Gr. µέλος limb] a., pertaining to or connected with a pyˈgomelus, a monster having a supernumerary limb behind or between the normal posterior pair; n. a pygomelian animal. ˈpygopage [ad. mod.L. pȳgopagus, f. Gr. πάγος that which is fixed or firmly set, f. πήγνυναι to fix, fasten], a monster consisting of twins united in the region of the buttocks; so pyˈgopagous a. pyˈgopagus = pygopage [a. F. pygopage (I. G. St.-Hilaire 1830, in Ann. des Sci. nat. XX. 338)]. ˈpygopod [Gr. πούς, ποδ- foot], (a) adj. of or pertaining to the Pygopodes, an order of aquatic birds, including the auks, grebes, and loons, having the legs set very far back; (b) adj. of or belonging to the genus Pygopus or family Pygopodidæ of Australian lizards having rudimentary hind legs; n. a lizard of this family; hence pyˈgopodous a. ˈpygostyle [Gr. στῦλος column], the vomer or triangular plate formed of the fused caudal vertebræ, which supports the tail-feathers in most birds; hence ˈpygostyled a., furnished with or forming a pygostyle.
| 1858 Mayne Expos. Lex., Pygobranchius,..applied by Gray to an order (Pygobranchia) of the Gasteropodophora..; *pygobranchious. |
| 1894 Bateson Variation 401 note, *Pygomelian geese are often recorded. |
| 1891 Amer. Nat. Oct. 894 The case of Rosa-Josepha is not entirely analogous and comparable to the two other *pygopages. |
| 1895 Teratologia II. 274 Several of the *pygopagous twins of whom there are scientific records, survived birth and lived for a number of years. 1902 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 5 Apr. 850 Pygopagous twins..united together in the region of the nates and having each its own pelvis. |
| 1866 Trans. Med. Soc. State of N.Y. XXIV. 224 The symmetrical *pygopagus is exceedingly rare. 1903 J. W. Williams Obstetrics xxxix. 680 Ischiopagi and pygopagi, as a rule, call for complicated and difficult manœuvres before delivery can be effected. 1959 Jrnl. Chronic Dis. X. 84 A wooden carving from the Solomon Islands suggests conjoined twins of the pygopagus type with the union of the bodies and heads and the extremities shortened by achondroplasia. |
| 1836 Buck's Handbk. Med. Sc. II. 226 The heat of such homothermous animals as the whale, the seal, the walrus, and the *pygopodous birds. |
| 1875 W. K. Parker in Encycl. Brit. III. 719/2 A ploughshare-shaped bone or *pygostyle. 1899 Evans Birds in Cambr. Nat. Hist. IX. 47 The tail [of Hesperornis] was fairly long and broad, but had no pygostyle. |
| 1884 Coues Key N. Amer. Birds 238 Tail short (as to its vertebræ, which are *pygostyled). |