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Glite Dictionary
Blarina brevicauda

Blarina brevicauda

9.9
A small North American shrew with a tail shorter than half its body length
  • noun
  • /ˈblærɪnə ˌbrɛvɪˈkaʊdə/
  • Specialized
translation icon : musaraña de cola corta
  • Unlike other shrews, Blarina brevicauda is easily identified by its very short tail.

Examples

  • The Blarina brevicauda is commonly found in forests and fields across eastern North America.

  • Researchers studied the habits of Blarina brevicauda to understand its impact on local ecosystems.

  • The Blarina brevicauda is often found in wetland habitats.

  • Have you ever seen a Blarina brevicauda in the wild?

  • Biologists have documented the unique behaviors of the Blarina brevicauda as it forages for food in the underbrush.

  • The Blarina brevicauda, with its short tail, plays a vital role in controlling insect populations in its habitat.

  • Naturalists often observe the Blarina brevicauda skimming through leaf litter as it searches for insects and worms.

Synonyms

short-tailed shrew
vsBlarina brevicauda
  • US
9.0

A small North American animal with a tail less than half its body length

is the named North American species rather than a general descriptor

Surface Forms

Blarina brevicauda singular
Blarina brevicauda plural

Morphology

Blarina + brevicauda

This is a Latin binomial (genus + species epithet) where the epithet literally encodes 'short-tailed' (brevi- = short, cauda = tail), so the sense is compositionally derivable if one recognises the Latin morphemes. However, those morphemes are not English and the second constituent is not a common dictionary word for learners, so an average B1 learner would not reliably infer the meaning without exposure to scientific/Latin naming conventions, making it only partially transparent.

Etymology

Blarina brevicauda comes from two Latin words, brevis and cauda, meaning 'short' and 'tail'. The shrew has a very short tail, so the name points to that.