cacomistle / cacomixle
Apr. 15th, 2024 07:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prettygoodwordTheme week: ’coon cousins -- that is procyonids, members of the family Procyonidae, which includes (and is named after) raccoons. Starting with the ’coon’s closest cousins:
cacomistle or cacomixle (KAK-uh-mis-uhl, KAK-uh-mik-suhl) - n., a small arboreal carnivorous mammal (Bassariscus sumichrasti) of southern Mexico and Central America having a black-banded tail.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
The naming is confusing here, as the cacomistle/cacomixle is also sometimes called ringtail AND the other member of genus Bassariscus, namely B. astutus of central Mexico north to the southwestern Unites States most commonly known as the ringtail, is also sometimes called cacomistle/cacomixle (and indeed some dictionaries mention only this other species when defining cacomistle). To keep things simple, from now on I'm using cacomistle strictly for sumichrasti and ringtail strictly for astutus. Despite all this, both critters are shy and cute as the dickens. The name comes from Spanish cacomixtle/cacomiztle, from Nahuatl tlacomiztli/tlahcomiztli, from tlaco, half/part + miztli, mountain lion/cougar -- which, um, yeah, I can kinda see the resemblance.
---L.
cacomistle or cacomixle (KAK-uh-mis-uhl, KAK-uh-mik-suhl) - n., a small arboreal carnivorous mammal (Bassariscus sumichrasti) of southern Mexico and Central America having a black-banded tail.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
The naming is confusing here, as the cacomistle/cacomixle is also sometimes called ringtail AND the other member of genus Bassariscus, namely B. astutus of central Mexico north to the southwestern Unites States most commonly known as the ringtail, is also sometimes called cacomistle/cacomixle (and indeed some dictionaries mention only this other species when defining cacomistle). To keep things simple, from now on I'm using cacomistle strictly for sumichrasti and ringtail strictly for astutus. Despite all this, both critters are shy and cute as the dickens. The name comes from Spanish cacomixtle/cacomiztle, from Nahuatl tlacomiztli/tlahcomiztli, from tlaco, half/part + miztli, mountain lion/cougar -- which, um, yeah, I can kinda see the resemblance.
---L.
