tayra

plural tayras · alternative taira

1. A South American omnivore, Eira barbara, allied to the grison, with a long thick tail.

   Tayras can be tamed and make interesting but fairly destructive pets.

   2010, Carlos L. de la Rosa, Claudia C. Nocke, A Guide to the Carnivores of Central America, unnumbered page

   2 more examples

   Cope considered it partly arboreal, as tayras are, and possibly omnivorous as well as herbivorous, yet he thought he saw how it could have evolved into hulking Coryphodon in a relatively short time.

   2004, David Rains Wallace, Beasts of Eden: Walking Whales, Dawn Horses, and Other Enigmas of Mammal Evolution, page 66

   A few tayras are known to live in areas of tall grass. Tayras forage for food on the ground and also in the trees, where their long tail helps them to balance as they move through the branches.

   2006, Tom Jackson, Michael Chinery, The New Encyclopedia of American Animals, page 152