Arctic Wolf
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Arctic Wolf
Mammal
A white-coated subspecies of the grey wolf living in the High Arctic, where it endures months of winter darkness and hunts across the frozen tundra.
Name Story
Canis lupus arctos
means “The northern wolf — of the Bear”
What does its name mean?
- Canis — dogLatin
- lupus — wolfLatin
- arctos — bearGreek — the same word that gives us 'the Arctic'
Long ago, people named the far north after a pattern of stars they called the Great Bear — so 'the Arctic' means 'the land beneath the Bear'. This white northern wolf carries that very word, arctos, 'bear', in its name.