civet cat

English

Noun

civet cat (plural civet cats)

  1. Synonym of civet.
  2. Synonym of ringtail (“Bassariscus astutus”).
    • 1894 [1893], Samuel N. Rhoads, “Geographic Variation in Bassariscus Astutus, with Description of a New Subspecies”, in Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, page 416:
      So far as they may now be distinguished, the Civet Cats belonging to the astuta group are characterized: […]
    • [2004, Bil Gilbert, Natural Coincidence: The Trip from Kalamazoo, University of Michigan Press, page 104:
      Another name for the ringtail is, though it is neither, civet cat, because when frightened ringtails exude a musky secretion from an anal gland.]
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