the.com/suricate

means A small, slender African mongoose that stands upright on its hind legs to scan for danger — better known today as the meerkat.

from Borrowed via French 'suricate' from Afrikaans/Dutch roots in South Africa, likely influenced by earlier Khoe or San terms for the animal; the exact path is murky, which is why dictionaries hedge with 'origin uncertain.' 'Meerkat' itself is Dutch/Afrikaans for 'lake cat,' a geographically odd name since the animal has nothing to do with lakes — possibly a folk-garbling of an older word rather than a literal description.