Macrotis lagotis
- noun
- Specialized
:
Macrotis lagotis
- Unlike other marsupials, Macrotis lagotis has distinctive, long ears and a long, bushy tail.
Examples
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The Macrotis lagotis is an endangered species found in arid regions of Australia.
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Researchers are studying the habitat preferences of Macrotis lagotis to aid in its conservation.
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The Macrotis lagotis is an endangered species.
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Have you ever seen a Macrotis lagotis in the wild?
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Researchers are studying the habitat preferences of Macrotis lagotis to aid in its conservation.
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The Macrotis lagotis is an endangered species found in arid regions of Australia.
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Unlike other marsupials, Macrotis lagotis has distinctive, long ears and a long, bushy tail.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A small marsupial active at night with long ears like a rabbit and a pointed snout from Australia
A small Australian animal with long ears like a rabbit
A small Australian animal that carries its babies in a pouch with large leathery ears like a rabbit
Surface Forms
Morphology
Macrotis + lagotis
This is a scientific Latin binomial (taxonomic proper name) whose parts are not ordinary English words (one is a genus name, the other is not attested), so a B1 learner who 'knows the words' would not be able to infer the meaning 'greater bilby'. Taxonomic names are cross-linguistically used but are not compositionally meaningful without specialist biological knowledge, making the expression opaque to general learners.
Etymology
The scientific name Macrotis lagotis may come from ancient Greek words: macro meaning 'large' and otis meaning 'ear', plus lagotis meaning 'hare-like', because the animal has long, rabbit-like ears. That's why the name fits the greater bilby, a small Australian marsupial with a pointed snout and big ears.