The scientific genus name for bettongs, the small hopping marsupials native to Australia.
Latinized version of 'bettong' (from Dharug), following Linnaean scientific nomenclature conventions where genus names are often Latin or Latinized forms of common names.
Bettongia is a perfect example of how science bureaucratizes language—the simple Dharug word 'betong' gets Latinized into a formal genus name, which then becomes the official scientific label, showing how power structures can reshape how we officially refer to the natural world.
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