potoroon.
/pɒtəˈruː/, U.S. /ˌpɑdəˈru/, Australian English /pɔtəˈruː/, /pɔdəˈruː/ Any of the rat kangaroos constituting the genus Potorous (family Potoroidae), found in dense scrub and grassland in Australia and Tasmania. long-footed, long-nosed potoroo: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Implacenta > subclass Marsupialia (marsupials) > [noun] > family Macropodidae > rat-kangaroo > types of
bettong1839
rufous rat-kangaroo1846
potoroo1907
1790 Nat. Hist. in J. White Jrnl. Voy. New S. Wales App. 286 The Poto Roo, or Kangaroo Rat.
1841 G. R. Waterhouse Marsupialia 172 The Hypsiprymni, or Potoroos, and Kangaroo-rats as they are termed, differ chiefly from the true Kangaroos, in possessing distinct canines.
1860 Times 19 May 11/2 Among these cave fossils Professor Owen had discovered remains of the phalanger,..the wombat,..the potoroo, [etc.].
1907 P. Fountain Rambles Austral. Naturalist iv. 38 There are several local varieties of the potoroo.
1943 C. Barrett Austral. Animal Bk. xi. 100 The dark rat-kangaroo, known to the natives of Port Jackson as the potoroo,..is now a rare animal.
1970 W. D. L. Ride Guide Native Mammals Austral. 64 Potoroos apparently require the dense natural vegetation of their habitat for protection.
1997 New Yorker 26 May 90/3 Australian conservationists are concerned that cats..are driving into extinction..creatures like the..woylies and boodies and numbats and potoroos.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
n.1790