kinkajou

Central and South American carnivorous mammal belonging to the raccoon family. Yellowish-brown, with a rounded face and slim body, the kinkajou grows to 55 cm/1.8 ft with a 50 cm/1.6 ft tail, and has short legs with sharp claws. It spends its time in trees and has a prehensile tail, which it uses as an extra limb when moving from branch to branch. It feeds largely on fruit. (Species Potos flavus, family Procyonidae.)