Culpeo

/kulˈpeɪoʊ/ noun

Definition

A wild dog or fox-like carnivore native to South America, related to the domestic dog.

Etymology

From Mapuche language 'culpeo', the indigenous name for this Patagonian canid. Adopted into Spanish and English naturalist terminology in the 18th-19th centuries.

Kelly Says

The culpeo is one of the largest wild canids in South America, yet most people have never heard of it—the word itself survived through indigenous knowledge systems that European naturalists documented.

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