tayra

[ tahy-ruh ]

noun

1. a small animal, Eira barbara, of the weasel family, ranging from Mexico to tropical South America.

tayra

/ ˈtaɪrə /

noun

1. a large arboreal musteline mammal, Eira barbara, of Central and South America, having a dark brown body and paler head

Word History and Origins

Origin of tayra¹

1850–55; < Portuguese, Spanish, taira < Tupi

Word History and Origins

Origin of tayra¹

C19: from Tupi taira

Example Sentences

They’ve recorded a clever form of weasel called a tayra and lots of crazy rodents like the agouti and the mountain paca.

From New York Times

He was studying poison dart frogs at La Selva Biological Station in northern Costa Rica, when he noticed a tayra—essentially a giant weasel with a bushy tail—approach a tree.

From Science Magazine

The South American grison and tayra represent the genus Galictis, in which the dentition is i.

From Project Gutenberg

Among them was a tayra weasel, whitish above and black below, as big and blood-thirsty as a fisher-martin; and a tiny opossum no bigger than a mouse.

From Project Gutenberg

The tayra, a relative of the weasel native to Central and South America, appears to do much the same thing, picking unripe plantains and hiding them until they ripen, according to a new study.

From Science Magazine