A small carnivorous mammal from Mexico and the southwestern United States, also called a ringtail cat, with a long bushy tail.
From Nahuatl (Aztec language) 'tlacomiztli,' a compound of 'tlaco' (half) + 'miztli' (mountain lion), referring to this smaller relative of larger wild cats. Spanish colonizers borrowed the term.
Despite being called a 'ringtail cat,' cacomistles aren't cats at all—they're actually in the raccoon family (Procyonidae), and their Aztec name literally means 'half-mountain lion' because they look like tiny pumas!
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