anomalure
|a-nom-a-lure|
🇺🇸
/əˈnɑːməljʊr/
🇬🇧
/əˈnɒməljʊə/
irregular-tailed gliding rodent
Etymology
'anomalure' originates from Greek, specifically the words 'anomalos' (meaning 'uneven' or 'irregular') and 'oura' (meaning 'tail'), combined in New Latin as the genus name 'Anomalurus'.
'anomalure' changed from the New Latin genus name 'Anomalurus' and entered English (chiefly in zoological usage) in the 19th century as 'anomalure', used to refer to members of the family Anomaluridae.
Initially it literally described an 'irregular' or 'uneven' tail ('anomalos' + 'oura'); over time the term came to denote the specific group of African gliding rodents with that distinguishing tail structure.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a nocturnal African gliding rodent of the family Anomaluridae, resembling a flying squirrel and characterized by a gliding membrane and rows of scale-like structures on the tail.
An anomalure glided from one canopy tree to another during the night.
Synonyms
Last updated: 2025/08/18 02:36