Ursus arctos
- noun
- /ˈɜr.səs ˈɑrk.tos/
- Specialized
:
Ursus arctos
- The Ursus arctos has one of the widest distributions of any bear species in the world.
Examples
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In Alaska, you can see the Ursus arctos in its natural habitat.
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Scientists discovered new behavior patterns in the Ursus arctos population living in the Carpathian mountains.
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Researchers often use the term Ursus arctos when referring to the brown bear in academic publications.
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The Ursus arctos is known for its strength and size.
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Researchers often use the term Ursus arctos when referring to the brown bear in academic publications.
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In Alaska, you can see the Ursus arctos in its natural habitat.
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The Ursus arctos has one of the widest distributions of any bear species in the world.
Synonyms
6
1.9
A large, powerful wild animal with brown fur that lives in forests in Asia and North America
Surface Forms
Morphology
Ursus + arctos
This is a Latin binomial (taxonomic) name rather than an ordinary compositional English phrase, so its referent 'brown bear' is a scientific label rather than a meaning you can compute by normal English composition. Even if a learner recognises 'Ursus' as 'bear', they are unlikely to know or infer the species epithet 'arctos' (and the binomial naming convention), so the overall meaning is not predictable from the parts.
Etymology
The scientific name Ursus arctos comes from two old words for 'bear'. The first, Ursus, is Latin for 'bear' and the second, arctos, is from Greek and also means 'bear', so the name literally says 'bear bear' and is used today as the official name for the brown bear.