mountain viscacha
- noun
- UK
- The mountain viscacha is well adapted to the rocky slopes of the Andes.
Examples
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Some zoos have begun breeding mountain viscachas to help conserve the species.
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Have you ever seen a mountain viscacha in the wild?
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Researchers studied the diet of mountain viscachas living at high altitude.
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The mountain viscacha is known for its long fur.
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Researchers studied the diet of mountain viscachas living at high altitude.
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Some zoos have begun breeding mountain viscachas to help conserve the species.
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The mountain viscacha is well adapted to the rocky slopes of the Andes.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A large rodent like a chinchilla with long whiskers and a bushy tail that lives in burrows in South America
A small rodent from South America that lives on rocky mountain slopes
A large South American rodent with soft fur that lives in groups in burrows
How Domesticated
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a straightforward noun-noun composition where 'mountain' modifies 'viscacha' to indicate the type or habitat of the rodent, so the meaning 'a viscacha that lives in mountainous areas' is directly derivable from the parts. Such modifier + head constructions are cross-linguistically common and follow regular compositional patterns, making it comprehensible to a B1 learner who knows both words.
Etymology
Mountain viscacha comes from a simple picture: mountain shows where it lives and viscacha is a local name for a rabbit-like rodent. So the name means 'a rodent that lives in the mountains'.