Douroucouli

/ˌduːruːˈkuːli/ noun

Definition

An alternative spelling of douricouli; a small South American nocturnal primate with large eyes, also called a night monkey.

Etymology

Variant spelling of douricouli, reflecting different Anglicizations of the Portuguese/Tupi original word. Both spellings appear in 19th-century natural history texts.

Kelly Says

Early naturalists couldn't agree on how to spell this animal's name, so multiple versions ended up in dictionaries—a linguistic fossil of exploration chaos!

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