English

A woylie

Noun

woylie ‎(plural woylies)

1. (Australia) A species of bettong, Bettongia penicillata.
   • 1996, Rees Barrett, Peter Dent, Place, Patter and Process, page 89,

     Woylies are sometimes referred to as brush-tailed rat kangaroos. This alternative name is an apt description of these small marsupials.

   • 2007, The Bulletin, Issues 6559-6566, page 27,

     It's a whodunit involving the woylie, the marsupial poster-child for recovery programs involving endangered animals.

   • 2009, Tim Winton, Silent Country: Travels Through a Recovering Landscape, Robyn Davidson (editor), The Best Australian Essays 2009, page 16,

     ‘Like a woylie,’ said John Dell, ‘Closely related.’

     Ah. Of course. Even I'd heard of the woylie. But like most of my countrymen, I couldn't have described one for love nor money.

     The woylie belongs to the great treasury of marsupials that we revere and know nothing about. As I learnt that day, the boodie and the woylie are different species of bettong.

Synonyms

• brush-tailed bettong

References

1. ↑ One Big Garden. http://onebiggarden.blogspot.com.au/2011/12/aboriginal-words-in-english-language-l.html (12 Sep 2012)