brushtail possum

noun

brushtail possum

noun

Etymology From brush + tail (originally tailed) + possum. See brushtail.

1

Any nocturnal, arboreal, Australian possum of the genus Trichosurus, having a furred tail with a naked tip.

The southerly caught the tree and tipped it. It fell with a crash, pinning a large brush-tailed possum to the ground.1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber & Faber, published 2003, page 56:
A brush-tailed possum wanders close, and with his rifle scope he traces its outline […] .1999, Julia Leigh, The Hunter, Faber & Faber 2012, p. 67

1 more example

There are 22 species in the family, the commonest being the brushtail possum, Trichosurus vulpecula (Fig. 7.5d, Plates 12 and 13), in Australia and the northern common cuscus, Phalanger orientalis, in New Guinea.2005, Hugh Tyndale-Biscoe, Life of Marsupials, page 229:

Synonyms: brushtail
Derived terms: northern brushtail possum

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.