kangaroo rat

American  

noun

1. any of various small jumping rodents of the family Heteromyidae, of Mexico and the western U.S.

2. an Australian desert rodent of the genus Notomys.

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kangaroo rat British  

noun

1. any small leaping rodent of the genus Dipodomys, related to the squirrels and inhabiting desert regions of North America, having a stocky body and very long hind legs and tails: family Heteromyidae

2. Also called: kangaroo mouse.  any of several leaping murine rodents of the Australian genus Notomys

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Etymology

Origin of kangaroo rat

First recorded in 1780–90

Example Sentences

So why are scientists so thrilled to see the Santa Cruz kangaroo rat making its home again nearly a century later in this California preserve?

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 23, 2023

The Santa Cruz kangaroo rat was for decades thought to exist only in a tiny pocket of sandhills in Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park in Santa Cruz County.

From New York Times • Jun. 23, 2023

The reptiles tend to live in burrows of the giant kangaroo rat, highly endangered itself and the main food for the foxes here.

From National Geographic • Jan. 6, 2021

Here are two recordings from Jan Randall, one of footrolls among banner-tailed kangaroo rat individuals, and the other of giant kangaroo rats: Namib desert golden mole Eremitalpa granti namibensis: Is just really frikkin’ cute.

From Scientific American • Mar. 22, 2011

Crows flapped off an occasional jackrabbit carcass; a black-and-white shrike sat on a fence post with a dead kangaroo rat dangling from under its talons; cows lumbered moodily off the dirt path into the sagebrush.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols