This secondary feather is known as the aftershaft or hypoptilum, and its presence or absence constitutes the most important structural difference in the feathers of existing birds.
Source: wiktionary
Hypoptilum
Synonyms for "hypoptilum" (2 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (1)
Related words (1)
Noun(1 words)
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
has context
1 entriesrelated to
1 entriesSample sentences
2 total sentences available.
The feathers in some ratites are unusual as they are less reduced than is the norm in birds—each feather has, in addition to the main feather, a large “after-shaft” or hypoptilum.
Source: wiktionary
Keep exploring
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.