jerboa

American  

[jer-boh-uh, jer-] / dʒərˈboʊ ə, dʒɛr- /

noun

1. any of various mouselike rodents of North Africa and Asia, as of the genera Jaculus and Dipus, with long hind legs used for jumping.

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jerboa British  

/ dʒɜːˈbəʊə /

noun

1. any small nocturnal burrowing rodent of the family Dipodidae, inhabiting dry regions of Asia and N Africa, having pale sandy fur, large ears, and long hind legs specialized for jumping

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Etymology

Origin of jerboa

1655–65; < New Latin < Arabic yarbūʿ; see gerbil

Example Sentences

The detonation of the plutonium-filled bomb - known as Blue Jerboa - and the subsequent 16 explosions of nuclear weapons in Algeria were seen as a display of French strength and development.

From BBC • Apr. 26, 2021

The report details the atomic test known as Green Jerboa, the last of four French above-ground nuclear tests performed in the Algerian desert.

From New York Times • Feb. 17, 2010

The Jerboa or jumping rodents of Mongolia were reported last week to have become carriers of the Black Plague and to be spreading it with appalling mortality among dwellers on the steppes near Irkutsk.

From Time Magazine Archive

Of animals the Jerboa, sent to Macleod by Mr. Mackenzie, of the Artillery, several specimens having been caught here: presenting affinities obviously with the hare, and analogies with the Kangaroo. 

From Journals of Travels in Assam, Burma, Bhootan, Afghanistan and the Neighbouring Countries by Griffith, William

Living Jerboa in the Zoological Garden of Berlin.—A rare rodent from South Africa, one seldom seen alive in captivity.—5 illustrations XIII.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 841, February 13, 1892 by Various