Spirit rises after the French animal appears (5)

I believe the answer is:

lemur

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'animal appears' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'spirit rises after the french' is the wordplay.
'spirit' becomes 'rum' (alcoholic spirit).
'rises' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'after' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'the french' becomes 'le' ('the' in French).
'rum' in reverse letter order is 'mur'.
'mur' put after 'le' is 'LEMUR'.

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(Other definitions for lemur that I've seen before include "Madagascan primate" , "Nocturnal primate from Madagascar" , "Bushy-tailed primate" , "Social climber" , "Primate found only in Madagascar" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.

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