Dinomys

noun Di·no·mys \ ˈdīnōˌmis \

Definition of Dinomys

: a genus of Peruvian hystericomorph rodents (the type of the family Dinomyidae) resembling the pacas

There's more!

Love words? You must — there are over 200,000 words in our free online dictionary, but you are looking for one that’s only in the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary.

Start your free trial today and get unlimited access to America's largest dictionary, with:

More than 250,000 words that aren't in our free dictionary
Expanded definitions, etymologies, and usage notes
Advanced search features
Ad free!

Origin and Etymology of dinomys

borrowed from New Latin, from dino- dino- + -mys-mys

Note: Taxon introduced as Dinomys Branickii by the German zoologist Wilhelm Peters (1815-83) in Monatsberichte der Königlich Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, aus dem Jahre 1873 (Berlin, 1874), “10. Juli [1872]. Gesamtsitzung der Akademie,” pp. 551-52. Peters published a more detailed description and illustrations of the animal in the same year as “Ueber Dinomys, eine merkwürdige neue Gattung von Nagethieren aus Peru,” Festschrift zur Feier des hundertjährigen Bestehens der Gesellschaft der Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin (Berlin, 1873), pp. 227-34. The specimen described by Peters, from the Museum of Zoology in Warsaw, was procured by the Polish zoologist and traveler Konstanty Jelski in Junín region, central Peru. At Jelski’s request, Peters gave the animal the specific epithet Branickii after the Polish nobleman Konstanty Branicki (1824-84), who was a principal financial sponsor of Jelski’s expedition to South America.