Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun An Indian genus of Ursidæ, characterized by the shaggy hide, protrusile lips, and fewer and smaller teeth than those of Ursus; honey-bears or sloth-bears. M. labiatus is the aswail (which see). Prochilus is a synonym.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- proper noun A genus of mammals including the sloth bears; in some classifications not a separate genus from Ursus.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- proper noun A taxonomic
genus within thefamily Ursidae — thesloth bear .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun sloth bears; in some classifications not a separate genus from Ursus
Etymologies
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Examples
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Behavioural ecology of the sloth bear (Melursus ursinus).
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It is also a present-day refuge for many of the bioregion's large vertebrates, such as tigers (Panthera tigris), wolves (Canis lupus), gaur (Bos gaurus), and sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), that are increasingly confined to fragments of the natural habitat that once covered vast expanses of the Indian Subcontinent.
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Among the other threatened species are the sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), gaur (Bos gaurus), and wild dog.
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The mammal assemblage also includes several threatened species such as the tiger, Asian elephant, gaur, sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), smooth-coated otter (Lutrogale perspicillata), great Indian civet (Viverra zibetha), and four-horned antelope or chousingha (Tetracerus quadricornis).
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Some of these include the tiger (Panthera tigris), which is the region's largest predator, and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), large herds of gaur (Bos gaurus), and one of the most dangerous mammals in the region, the sloth bear (Melursus ursinus).
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But the sixty-six known mammal species include two threatened species: the wild dog (Cuon alpinus) and sloth bear (Melursus ursinus).
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Large, charismatic mammals such as the tiger (Panthera tigris), Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), gaur (Bos gaurus), and raucous hornbill inhabit the forests.
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Several of the ecoregion's mammals are also listed as threatened: the endangered Asian elephant, the Sri Lankan genotype of the common leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya), and the vulnerable sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), purple-faced leaf monkey (Semnopithecus vetulus), and slender loris (Loris tardigradus).
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Several centuries ago, when the habitat was intact, this ecoregion harbored a rich wildlife community that included tiger, greater one-horned rhinoceros, Asian elephant, wild water buffalo, swamp deer, sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), and several hornbill species.
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These forests were once inhabited by tigers (Panthera tigris), Asian elephants (Elephas maximus), wild dogs (Cuon alpinus), sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), and a host of hornbills.
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