Jer*bo"a (?), n. [Ar. yarb'.] Zool.

Any small jumping rodent of the genus Dipus, esp. D. Aegyptius, which is common in Egypt and the adjacent countries. The jerboas have very long hind legs and a long tail.

[Written also gerboa.]

The name is also applied to other small jumping rodents, as the Pedetes Caffer, of the Cape of Good Hope.

Jerboa kangaroo Zool., small Australian kangaroo (Bettongia penicillata), about the size of a common hare.

 

© Webster 1913.

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