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antechinus
Aug. 27th, 2018 08:50 amantechinus (ant-uh-KEE-nuhs) - n., any of several small carnivorous marsupials (genus Antechinus) that resemble shrews.
About 15 species in Australia and New Guinea. Noted for males being semelparous: mating once in their lifetimes, or in this case, going into a mating frenzy during breeding season till they exhaust themselves and die. The name was coined in 1841 from Greek roots anti- in the sense of simulating + ekhinos, hedgehog/sea urchin (from its bristly fur). A brown antechinus (Antechinus stuartii):
Thanks, WikiMedia!
---L.
About 15 species in Australia and New Guinea. Noted for males being semelparous: mating once in their lifetimes, or in this case, going into a mating frenzy during breeding season till they exhaust themselves and die. The name was coined in 1841 from Greek roots anti- in the sense of simulating + ekhinos, hedgehog/sea urchin (from its bristly fur). A brown antechinus (Antechinus stuartii):
Thanks, WikiMedia!
---L.
