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prettygoodwordbabirusa (bah-buh-ROO-suh) - n., any of the wild pigs of the genus Babyrousa of the East Indies.
Noted for the male's large upper canine teeth that grow upward into curving tusks (and which if not ground down through regular activity, curl around and penitrate the skull). Formerly considered one species, Babyrousa babyrussa, but split into four in 2002. Native to islands of central Indonesia, and the name was, not surprisingly, adopted (in the 1690s) from Malay, from babi, pig + rusa, deer -- because the tusks look similar to antlers. Wikilink.
---L.
Noted for the male's large upper canine teeth that grow upward into curving tusks (and which if not ground down through regular activity, curl around and penitrate the skull). Formerly considered one species, Babyrousa babyrussa, but split into four in 2002. Native to islands of central Indonesia, and the name was, not surprisingly, adopted (in the 1690s) from Malay, from babi, pig + rusa, deer -- because the tusks look similar to antlers. Wikilink.
---L.
