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The character 貘 combines the radical 豸 (used for creeping animals, beasts, and legendary creatures) with the phonetic 莫 ('none' or 'do not'). Originally, it referred to a mythical beast in folklore that consumed people's nightmares, offering protection to sleepers. When modern zoology required classifications for foreign animals, the meaning shifted to the tapir, a large herbivorous mammal with a short, prehensile snout, native to South America and Southeast Asia. Despite this shift from myth to taxonomy, the radical 豸 visually anchors the character among quadrupedal beasts.
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