tucutucun.
/ˈtuːkuːˈtuːkuː/ A rat-like burrowing rodent of the genus Ctenomys, esp. C. magellanica and C. brasiliensis; found in Patagonia and La Plata. Also, the sound made by this animal. Also attributive.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Rodentia or rodent > superfamily Hystricomorpha (porcupine or guinea-pig) > [noun] > member of family Bathyergidae > other types of
gundi1781
tucutucu1839
spiny rat1876
1839 C. Darwin in R. Fitzroy & C. Darwin Narr. Surv. Voy. H.M.S. Adventure & Beagle III. iii. 58 The tucutucos appear, to a certain degree, to be gregarious... They are nocturnal in their habits... This animal is universally known by a very peculiar noise, which it makes when beneath the ground... The name Tucutuco is given in imitation of the sound... When angry or frightened, they uttered the tuco-tuco.
1839 Fitz-Roy Voy. Beagle II. 313 The ‘tucutucu’, a little animal like a small rabbit.
1880 Lady F. Dixie Across Patagonia ix. 112 Putting his foot in an unusually deep tuca-tuca hole, my little horse comes with a crash upon his head.
1899 Daily News 4 May 4/3 Patagonia was always noted for its strange ground game, as armadillos and tucotucos.
1904 Times, Lit. Suppl. 11 Nov. 347/2 They rode northwards towards the Andes..knee-deep mud and tucutucu country (earth undermined by prairie rat) were common everywhere.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1915; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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n.1839