B216 words · Upper-intermediate

Land Mammals vocabulary — B2

Advanced land mammal vocabulary that names less familiar animals from around the world, such as the alpaca, armadillo, meerkat and platypus.

16 questions

Words in this set

alpaca
/ælˈpækə/
A small South American animal bred for its very fine fleece.
Example: That jumper's alpaca and it cost about three times what I wanted to pay.
armadillo
/ˌɑrməˈdɪloʊ/
An American animal covered in hard bony plates that curls into a ball.
Example: An armadillo was rooting about at the edge of the porch light.
baboon
/bəˈbun/
A large ground-living monkey with a long dog-like muzzle and a bare rump.
Example: A baboon sat on the car bonnet and refused to budge.
bobcat
/ˈbɑbˌkæt/
A short-tailed spotted wild feline of North America, roughly twice house-pet size.
Example: There's a bobcat that comes through the yard most evenings.
dingo
/ˈdɪŋɡoʊ/
A wild yellow-brown dog of the Australian outback.
Example: A dingo slipped past the camp without so much as a sound.
gerbil
/ˈdʒɜrbɪl/
A small desert rodent with a tufted tail, popular as a child's first pet.
Example: We're down to one gerbil after last summer's escape attempt.
gibbon
/ˈɡɪbən/
A slender ape with very long arms that swings through Asian forest.
Example: A pair of gibbons were calling to each other across the valley.
jackal
/ˈdʒækəl/
A slim wild dog of Africa and Asia that scavenges what bigger hunters leave.
Example: A jackal was already circling before the lions had finished.
lemur
/ˈlimər/
A big-eyed primate found in the wild only on Madagascar.
Example: A ring-tailed lemur dropped onto the path and stared right at us.
meerkat
A small African animal that stands upright on its back legs to watch for danger.
Example: One meerkat keeps watch while the rest of them dig.
mink
/mɪŋk/
A dark glossy water-loving hunter farmed for its fur.
Example: Escaped mink have wiped out the water voles along this river.
mongoose
/ˈmɑŋɡus/
A quick low-slung African animal famous for taking on snakes.
Example: A mongoose darted out of the wall and back again in a second.
opossum
/oʊˈpɑsəm/
An American animal with a bare tail that plays dead when threatened.
Example: The opossum went completely limp and we thought we'd killed it.
platypus
/ˈplætəˌpʊs/
An Australian river animal with a duck-like bill and webbed feet that lays eggs.
Example: We waited two hours at dusk and finally a platypus surfaced.
warthog
An African wild pig with tusks and lumpy growths across its face.
Example: A warthog trotted off with its tail straight up like an aerial.
wildebeest
A large African antelope with a broad muzzle that migrates in huge herds.
Example: The wildebeest crossing takes days and the river is full of crocodiles.