A plural form referring to members of the coati family (Nasua), small carnivorous mammals found in Central and South America with long tails and snouts.
From Greek 'kakos' (bad) + Nahuatl 'mixitl' (coati), reflecting early Spanish colonial encounters with these animals and their combination of European naming conventions with indigenous terms.
The word 'cacomixl' itself is a fascinating linguistic fossil—it's one of the few English words derived from Nahuatl that maintains its indigenous structure, showing how Spanish colonizers in Mexico documented local wildlife using native names.
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