woylie

plural woylies

1. AustraliaA species of bettong, Bettongia penicillata.

   It's a whodunit involving the woylie, the marsupial poster-child for recovery programs involving endangered animals.

   2007, The Bulletin, numbers 6559-6566, page 27

   2 more examples

   Woylies are sometimes referred to as brush-tailed rat kangaroos. This alternative name is an apt description of these small marsupials.

   1996, Rees Barrett, Peter Dent, Place, Patter and Process, page 89

   ‘Like a woylie,’ said John Dell, ‘Closely related.’ Ah. Of course. Even I'd heard of the woylie. But like most of my countrymen, I couldn't have described one for love nor money. The woylie belongs to the great treasury of marsupials that we revere and know nothing about. As I learnt that day, the boodie and the woylie are different species of bettong.

   2009, Tim Winton, “Silent Country: Travels Through a Recovering Landscape”, in Robyn Davidson, editor, The Best Australian Essays 2009, page 16

   Synonyms: brush-tailed bettong