jaguarundi

American  

[jah-gwuh-ruhn-dee, -gyoo-uh-, jag-wuh-, -yoo-uh-] / ˌdʒɑ gwəˈrʌn di, -gyu ə-, ˌdʒæg wə-, -yu ə- /

noun

plural

jaguarundis

1. a long-bodied and long-tailed tropical wildcat, Felis yagouaroundi, having a brownish-gray coat and a second color phase of reddish-brown: now reduced in number and endangered in some areas.

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Etymology

Origin of jaguarundi

1880–85; < Portuguese < Guarani jaguarundy wildcat

Example Sentences

The region is vital to not only bird species such as piping plovers and northern aplomado falcons but also Gulf Coast jaguarundi, ocelots, and critically endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtles.

From Salon • May 2, 2023

Primates like the spider monkeys are among the most frequent arrivals, but the center also receives cat species such as ocelots and jaguarundi, and birds including toucans and owls.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 29, 2022

Those endangered animals include rare cats like the ocelot and jaguarundi that roam wildlife refuges in southern Texas.

From Washington Post • Feb. 19, 2019

It is also the habitat of two rare cats, the Gulf Coast jaguarundi and ocelot.

From Scientific American • Sep. 8, 2014

In the warehouse were scores of skins of jaguar, puma, ocelot, and jaguarundi, and one skin of the big, small-toothed red wolf.

From Through the Brazilian Wilderness by Roosevelt, Theodore