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antechinus
Mar. 21st, 2024 08:14 amantechinus (ant-eh-KEE-nuhs) - n., any of several very small marsupials (genus Antechinus) resembling mice with the bristly fur of shrews.
Sometimes called pouched mice or marsupial mice, and there are currently 15 recognized species, almost all from the eastern coast of Australia. This cutie is a brown antechinus (A. stuartii):
Thanks, WikiMedia!
I'm having difficulty finding a solid etymology: the only one I've found claims it's from Latin roots anti- + echinus, hedgehog, but the only sense of anti- that makes sense to me there is the rival/counterpart to, so 🤷🏻♂️
---L.
Sometimes called pouched mice or marsupial mice, and there are currently 15 recognized species, almost all from the eastern coast of Australia. This cutie is a brown antechinus (A. stuartii):
Thanks, WikiMedia!
I'm having difficulty finding a solid etymology: the only one I've found claims it's from Latin roots anti- + echinus, hedgehog, but the only sense of anti- that makes sense to me there is the rival/counterpart to, so 🤷🏻♂️
---L.
