native monkey

noun

native monkey

noun

1

Obsolete, Rare A koala.

1892: James Günther, Grammar and Vocabulary of the Aboriginal Dialect called the Wiradhurri, Appendix D of John Fraser (ed.), An Australian Language Barrandang—a native monkey.
It forms the genus Phascolarctos, and is called by the colonists “native bear” or “native monkey.”1894, Australasia:

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