| 释义 |
koala|kəʊˈɑːlə|
Also 9 coola(h, kool-la, koolah.
[Native name: given as kūlla in Dippil, kūlā on George's River (Ridley Kámilarói, pp. 64, 104); koala was perhaps orig. a misreading of koola. Hence the name of the town Coolah in New South Wales.]
In full, koala bear. An arboreal marsupial mammal of Australia (Phascolarctos cinereus), of an ashen-grey colour, small, clumsy, and somewhat resembling a sloth in form, and feeding on the leaves of eucalyptus. Also called the Australian or Native Bear.
1808Home in Phil. Trans. XCVIII. 305 The koala is another species of the wombat. The natives call it the koala wombat; it..was first brought to Port Jackson in August, 1803. 1813Hist. N.S. Wales (1818) 432 (Morris) The koolah or sloth is likewise an animal of the opossum species, with a false belly. 1827Cunningham N.S. Wales I. 317 (Morris s.v. Bear) Our coola (sloth or native bear) is about the size of an ordinary poodle dog, with shaggy, dirty-coloured fur, no tail, and claws and feet like a bear. 1859Darwin Orig. Spec. xiv. (1878) 382 The climbing, leaf-eating koala. 1902Daily Chron. 3 July 3/4 The koala of Australia, has also a very big cæcum. 1937C. Kearton I visit Antipodes x. 132 The Koala Bear was first seen by a young explorer who journeyed to the Blue Mountains in 1798. 1944A. Russell Bush Ways xix. 95 There was..scarce a gum tree but that sheltered an opossum or a koala. 1966G. Durrell Two in Bush v. 173 Fortunately, before it became too late, the Government stepped in and passed laws strictly protecting the Koalas, and slowly over the years their numbers have built up again. |