bushbaby

Everyday

A small African animal with huge round eyes, big ears and a long tail that lives in trees and comes out at night. Also called a galago. tree →

In the lessons

In science lessons about animals and habitats, the bushbaby is a primate (a relative of monkeys and lemurs) that is nocturnal: its big eyes help it see in the dark, and it leaps from branch to branch eating insects and gum. Its name comes from its cry, which sounds like a crying baby.

Examples

• The bushbaby leapt from tree to tree in the dark. tree →
• A bushbaby has huge eyes for seeing at night. tree →
• We heard a bushbaby crying in the African night. tree →
• Bushbabies eat insects and tree gum. tree →
• The zoo's nocturnal house has bushbabies. tree →
• A bushbaby can jump much further than its own body length. tree →

Note

Countable: a bushbaby, bushbabies (y → ies); also «bush baby». It is a nocturnal primate, not a baby of anything. Its other name is galago. It should not be kept as a pet.