North American ringtail

plural North American ringtails

1. A small carnivorous mammal with a distinctive black-and-white ringed tail, native to the southwestern United States and Mexico; Bassariscus astutus.

   While the North American ringtail lives in rocky regions with scattered trees, its Central American relative lives in dense, moist forests and spends most of its time in the trees.

   1979, Dorothy Hinshaw Patent, Raccoons, Coatimundis, and Their Family, Holiday House, page 83

   1 more example

   The North American ringtail, Bassariscus astutus, generally occurs in semiarid deserts, rocky areas, and canyons of the southwestern United States and Mexico but is usually never found far from water.

   1999, “Ringtail”, in Michael A. Mares, editor, Encyclopedia of Deserts, page 477

   Synonyms: civet cat, miner's cat, raccoon fox, ringtail, ring-tailed cat, ring-tailed civet cat