Photo credit: Rufus46 on Wikimedia Commons
So, translating maned wolf into Latin. Seems pretty easy right? Just use the scientific name. Chrysocyon brachyurus. What the hell? How do you even pronounce that? It's not even Latin, it's Greek! That's not going to work. So, we'll have to come up with something new. Chrysocyon means golden dog, and, according to Wiktionary, brachyurus means short tail. This gives us some ideas to work with. Here's what I came up with:
- Lupus Iubatus
- Direct translation of maned wolf
- Lupus Aureus
- Golden wolf
- Lupus Longipes
- Long-legged wolf
- Lupus Brevicaudus
- Short-tail wolf
Using the local names, which I just took these from Wikipedia, we have aguará guazú (large fox) in Gaurani, lobo-guará (guará has an unclear meaning, but Wikipedia says it comes from the Tupi-Guarani agoa'rá [by the fuzz]) in Portuguese, and lobo de crín (maned wolf), lobo de los esteros (wolf of the marshes[?]), or lobo colorado (red wolf) in Spanish. Using these terms, we can get:
- Vulpes Magna
- Large fox
- Lupus Paludum
- Wolf of the marshes
Note: Paludum is not an adjective but the plural possessive form of palus. - Lupus Rubeus
- Red wolf
- Lupus Guarus
- Taking guara as the feminine version of a hypothetical Latin adjective guar(us/a/um).
So which one's my favorite? Probably Lupus Aureus. We can attach the possessive form of the Latin word for Brazil, Brasiliae, to get Lupus Aureus Brasiliae, golden wolf of Brazil. We could also do Canis Aureus or Vulpes Aurea. A direct translation of the scientific name would be Aureus Canis Brevicaudus. Hopefully this gives you some ideas of what maned wolf could be in Latin. Remember to follow the proper gender and declension rules if you use any of these!