apar

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a South American three-banded armadillo of the genus Tolypeutes, able to roll its armored body into a nearly complete ball

   When threatened by the dog, the apar rolled itself into a hard ball.

Borrowed through Portuguese or American Spanish from Tupi tatuapara, 'armadillo that rolls up,' from tatu, 'armadillo,' plus a verb meaning 'to roll.' Darwin also records the regional name mataco.

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