Ursus americanus
- noun
- /ˈɜr.səs əˈmɛr.ɪ.kən.əs/
- Specialized
:
Ursus americanus
- The American black bear, known scientifically as Ursus americanus, is commonly found in forests throughout North America.
- Ursus americanus bear
Examples
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It's important to understand that Ursus americanus can be less aggressive than its cousin, the brown bear.
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Black bear (Ursus americanus) populations, for example, have remained relatively stable at the HBEF and across New Hampshire over the past two decades (Figure 3).
Academic text (2012) -
In the national park, we saw a family of Ursus americanus foraging for berries near the hiking trail.
Synonyms
11
1.0
A medium-sized wild animal in North America with black or dark brown fur
1
3.4
A medium-sized North American bear usually with black or dark brown fur and less aggressive than brown bears
A medium-sized bear that lives in forests in North America, usually black or brown
Surface Forms
Morphology
Ursus + americanus
The binomial combines 'Ursus' (the bear genus) with the Latin adjective 'americanus' ('American'), so the overall meaning — the American bear species — is directly derivable from the parts. Scientific Latin names use a consistent genus+epithet pattern across languages, so a learner who knows both constituents would readily infer it refers to the American bear.
Etymology
Ursus americanus comes from Latin words: Ursus meaning 'bear' and americanus meaning 'American'. That's why this name is used by scientists to mean the American black bear.