: a slender, long-tailed, carnivorous mammal (Cryptoprocta ferox of the family Eupleridae) of Madagascar that has retractile claws, usually reddish-brown or sometimes black, short, thick fur, and anal scent glands
The fossa evolved on the catless island of Madagascar, where it became the ecological equivalent of a cat. With nothing else around to fill the role, the fossa became a sort of mini-leopard, hunting lemurs and other small animals in the forest at night.—Fiona Sunquist
Illustration of fossa
2fossa
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Overall, Poust notes, Diegoaelurus was probably closer in appearance to a civet or a fossa.—Riley Black, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 Mar. 2022 By comparison, the far-more-ancient Diegoaelurus was much smaller, about the size of a bobcat, and similar in style to the fossa of Madagascar, a cousin to the mongoose, Poust said.—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Mar. 2022 Its temporal fossa – the shallow depression on the side of the skull – was enormous and could old huge jaw-closing muscles.—Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 30 June 2010
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Word History
Etymology
Noun (1)
borrowed from Medieval Latin, going back to Latin, "ditch, trench," noun derivative from feminine of fossus, past participle of fodere "to jab, dig" — more at fossil entry 1
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