Abstract
A variety of Maori words have come to be associated with the putative New Zealand "otter," often termed waitoreke, kaureke, or kaurehe. The present study examines all the terms that have been associated with this supposed animal, particularly those in Becker (1985) and Watson (1960). Where possible, two types of data are examined for each term. First, an etymology is given based upon the phonological (sound) form together with the morphological (semantic sense) structure, these being determined as accurately as possible given the strictures of Maori grammar. Second, historical citations are documented in order to assess the status of the word: whether or not it is attested; if attested, whether or not it is old or relatively new. Two words survive this analysis as being Maori forms that have a high probability of having been used to denote a native mammal of amphibious habits: waitoreke and kaureke. Both names prove to be of rare attestation, but in these cases such poor attestation reflects the antiquity of the word. These names both involve "quill, spur, knob" in their meanings, kaureke possibly meaning "very spiney." This unexpected semantic parallel between these names suggests that these survive from a period when direct knowledge of this animal was widespread among the Maori. The well attested name, kaurehe, however, reveals very little about the animal to which it refers. This suggests that kaurehe is a newer word based upon a diminished acquaintance with the animal itself. Further, the meaning of kaurehe is such that it might also be applied to the tuatara. Kaurehe, therefore, is rejected as a later distortion of kaureke. There is an excellent possibility that a rare mammal with a foot spur, of restricted habitat and distribution, survived in New Zealand until recent times-if, indeed, not up to the present time. A spur would be diagnostic of a member of the order Monotremata, and an amphibious habit would suggest a monotreme of the genus Ornithorhynchus, a New Zealand variant of the Australian platypus. A spiney pelage, however, suggests a member of the genera Tachyglossus or Zaglossus, though an even more primitive basal monotreme or advanced therapsid (mammal-like reptile) cannot be excluded from consideration.