An alter ego of a person, of vegetable, animal, human or godlike nature. An inner relationship, fully defined, exists between the person and his or her nahual(s) from birth to death: e.g., a nahual of Hunahpú is the fish; of Ixbalamqué, the jaguar; of both as the divine twins, Hunrakán itself. Nahualism as a belief continues among today's Indians.

a sort of Aztec protective spirit, and an Archaeopterix is, of course, the feathered dinosaur much flaunted as the evolutionary link between dinosaurs and birds Oh dear, looks like my plotbunnies have been breeding again since I started this

In Aztec mythology and Mayan mythology, a Nahual was a spirit being, similar to the animal Totem of the north American indians, that manifested itself in the form of an animal. Each person had a nahual who watched over and protected them.