Crossword Genius

With short sudden movement snake gets rodent (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

jerboa

'rodent' is the definition.
(jerboa is a kind of rodent)

'with short sudden movement snake' is the wordplay.
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'short' means to remove the last letter.
'sudden movement' becomes 'jerk'.
'snake' becomes 'boa' (boa is a kind of snake).
'jerk' with its last letter removed is 'jer'.
'jer' next to 'boa' is 'JERBOA'.

'gets' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for jerboa that I've seen before include "Mouse-like jumping rodent - ear job (anag)" , "Desert rodent" , "Desert-dwelling rodent" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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