Also yapok, yapach. [f. Oyapok, name of a river between French Guiana and Brazil, spelt earlier Wiapoco (Harcourt, Voy. Guiana, 1613).] The South American water-opossum, Chironectes variegatus, having webbed toes.
1827. Griffith, trans. Cuvier’s Anim. Kingd., III. 35. There are … Yapocks of a smaller size…. Found on the banks of the Yapoch river of Guyana.
1840. Cuvier’s Anim. Kingd., 103. The Yapach … frequents the rivers of Guiana.
1892. J. A. Thomson, Outl. Zool., 569. The aquatic Yapock (Chironectes) … feeds on fish and sinaller water animals.
