musk shrewn.
/ˈmʌsk ʃruː/, U.S. /ˈməsk ˌʃru/ Any of various Eurasian and African shrews of the genera Suncus and Crocidura, the males of which have large scent glands that produce a musky odour; esp. the house shrew of southern Asia, Suncus murinus (also introduced in East Africa). Frequently with distinguishing word.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > [noun] > order Insectivora > family Soricidae > genus Crocidura (musk-shrew)
muskrat1681
musk shrew1834
1834 P. M. Roget Animal & Veg. Physiol. II. 135 The Sorex moschatus, or musk shrew.
1873 Jrnl. Anthropol. Inst. 2 439 Until this time [sc. the Pleistocene period] the lemming, musk-sheep, mammoth, stag, reindeer, musk-shrew, brown and grizzly bears, roe, etc., had not formed part of the European fauna.
1888 W. T. Blanford Fauna Brit. India: Mammalia i. 236 Crocidura cærulea, the grey musk Shrew.
1937 Jrnl. Animal Ecol. 6 284 Crocidura russula (Hermann), the white-toothed or musk shrew,..occurs on the Continent..but not in Great Britain.
1982 Acta Theriologica 27 347 (title) A note on the diet of the African musk shrew.
1998 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 95 305/1 We have constructed a molecular phylogeny of GnRH evolution, incorporating new sequence data..from three placental mammals: human.., tree shrew, and musk shrew.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1834