The Spectacled Bear is the only surviving member of the Tremarctinae. What is the etymology of the genus name Tremarctos, or to put it another way, how would 'Tremarctos' be translated into English?

wwefan18

Short-Faced Bear. http://www.bears.org/animals/spectacled/ Sep 06 07, 3:25 PM

queproblema

tremarctus=big bear "Biologists call them by their Latin name Tremarctos ornatus, meaning large decorated bear." http://www.elpasozoo.org/bears_073106.htm Think of "Arcturus" the "Bear Guard" star, near Ursas Major and Minor. It's Greek. Regarding the "trem" part, I'm only guessing that it comes from the Latin "tremendus." The Linnaen system does sometimes combine Greek and Latin into one new word. Sep 06 07, 3:47 PM

xaosdog

Well, it's definitely not the short-faced bear, that's the extinct arctodus. As to trem = big.... well, you have a source for it, but it seems highly unlikely. I think it is wrong. Arctos is clearly bear (Greek), but Trem, whether in Latin or Greek (the Latin deriving from the Greek), does NOT mean big, but rather means to shiver or tremble. So "tremendous" means frightening, not large, etymologically speaking. Moreover, the spectacled bear is a small bear by anyone's standards. I appreciate the effort anyway! Anyone else able to parse the etymology? In case it helps: there is an octopus, called in English the blanket octopus, whose Linnaean name is Tremoctopod. The male is the size of a penny, the female still small but a hundred to 150 times larger. I can't work it out. Sep 07 07, 10:13 AM

McGruff

See Question #85499. Sep 07 07, 7:51 PM