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Derived from the Latin stella polaris, pole star. This is the proper Latin name of the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor, commonly called the North Star or Pole-Star. The Old English name for it was Scip-steorra ship-star, reflecting its importance in navigation.
Ursus maritimus is the polar bear's scientific name. It means sea bear. Commander C.J. Phipps, author of A Voyage Towards the North Pole, used it for the first time in 1774. It refers to the animal's close association with the Arctic's chilly waters and its sea ice. Later, the scientific name Thalarctos was accepted. It is a combination of the Greek, thalasso, meaning sea, and arctos, meaning bear of the north. In 1971, polar bear scientists returned to the bear's original scientific name, Ursus maritimus.