Animal begins to miaow not surprisingly (3)
I believe the answer is:
tom
'animal' is the definition.
The answer is an example.
'begins to miaow not surprisingly' is the wordplay.
'begins' suggests taking the first letters.
'not' becomes 'o' (I've seen this in other clues).
'surprisingly' indicates an anagram (a surprising ordering of the letters).
The initial letters of 'to miaow' is 'tm'.
'tm'+'o'='tmo'
'tmo' anagrammed gives 'TOM'.
(Other definitions for tom that I've seen before include "A male domestic cat" , "Man's name; male cat" , "Repeated twice, this becomes an African drum" , "Jerry's cartoon antagonist" , "Waits, perhaps" .)