kinkajou

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a nocturnal tree-dwelling mammal of tropical Central and South America, with golden-brown fur and a long prehensile tail

   The kinkajou used its tail for balance while climbing toward the fruit.

Borrowed through French quincajou from an Algonquian name, probably originally applied to the wolverine and transferred by European naturalists to this unrelated tropical American mammal.

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