olinguito

[ oh-ling-gwee-toh ]

/ ˌoʊ lɪŋˈgwi toʊ /

noun, plural o·lin·gui·tos.

a small mammal of the raccoon family, Bassaricyon neblina, resembling a long-tailed, slender domestic cat with a bearlike face, inhabiting the mountainous forests of Ecuador and Colombia: its identification in 2013 marked the Western Hemisphere’s first new carnivorous mammal species since 1978.

Nearby words

oligozoospermia, oliguria, olin, olinda, olingo, olinguito, olio, oliphant, oliva, olivaceous, olivares

Origin of olinguito

Fist recorded in 2013; from Spanish: literally, “little olingo,” equivalent to olingo + -ito diminutive suffix

Also called kitty bear.