tayra
English
Etymology
Borrowed, via Spanish tayra or Portuguese taira, from Old Tupi [Term?].[1][2] (Compare Portuguese irara, Spanish irará, eirá, connected to Guaraní eíra (“honey”), a food the animal is fond of,[3] whence also Portuguese papa-mel, another vernacular name.)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈtaɪ.ɹə/
Noun
tayra (plural tayras)
- A South American omnivore, Eira barbara, allied to the grison, with a long thick tail.
- 2004, David Rains Wallace, Beasts of Eden: Walking Whales, Dawn Horses, and Other Enigmas of Mammal Evolution, page 66:
- Cope considered it partly arboreal, as tayras are, and possibly omnivorous as well as herbivorous, yet he thought he saw how it could have evolved into hulking Coryphodon in a relatively short time.
- 2006, Tom Jackson, Michael Chinery, The New Encyclopedia of American Animals, page 152,
- A few tayras are known to live in areas of tall grass.
- Tayras forage for food on the ground and also in the trees, where their long tail helps them to balance as they move through the branches.
- 2010, Carlos L. de la Rosa, Claudia C. Nocke, A Guide to the Carnivores of Central America, unnumbered page,
- Tayras can be tamed and make interesting but fairly destructive pets.
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Alternative forms
Translations
Eira barbara
References
tayra on Wikipedia.Wikipedia Eira barbara on Wikispecies.Wikispecies Eira barbara on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons - tayra in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- “tayra” in Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary.
- “tayra” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
- Mark Wainwright, Oscar Arias, The mammals of Costa Rica: a natural history and field guide (2007)
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