The story
From mega- + -pode, after scientific Latin Megapodius (genus name).
First known use, by meaning
- from 19th c. Any of several chicken- or turkey-like birds in the family Megapodiidae, which incubate their eggs by burying them where they receive warmth from decaying vegetation, solar radiation or geothermal heat.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.