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brittlestar

(Encyclopedia)brittlestar, common name for echinoderms belonging to the class Ophiuroidea. The name is derived from their habit of breaking off arms as a means of defense. New arms are easily regenerated. They are ...

Baring

(Encyclopedia)Baring bârˈĭng [key], British family of bankers. Sir Francis Baring (1740–1810) founded (1763) the John and Francis Baring Company, which he renamed Baring Brothers and Company in 1806. At first ...

Cambridge, University of

(Encyclopedia)Cambridge, University of, at Cambridge, England, one of the oldest English-language universities in the world. Originating in the early 12th cent. (legend places its origin even earlier than that of t...

ocean

(Encyclopedia)ocean, interconnected mass of saltwater covering 70.78% of the surface of the earth, often called the world ocean. It is subdivided into four (or five) major units that are separated from each other i...

chiton

(Encyclopedia)CE5 A. Dorsal view of a chiton, representative mollusk of the class Amphineura B. Internal anatomy of a chiton chiton kīˈtən [key], common name for rock-clinging marine mollusks of the class Po...

Chelicerata

(Encyclopedia)Chelicerata kəlĭsˌərätˈə [key], subphylum of Arthropoda, including the horseshoe crabs (order Xiphosura), the arachnids (class Arachnida), and the sea spiders (class Pycnogonida). The extinct g...

Cocos Islands

(Encyclopedia)Cocos Islands kōˈkōs [key] or Keeling Islands, officially Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Isl...

coelom

(Encyclopedia)coelom sēˈləm [key], fluid-filled body cavity, found in animals, which is lined by cells derived from mesoderm tissue in the embryo, and which provides for free, lubricated motion of the viscera. I...

estuary

(Encyclopedia)estuary ĕsˈcho͝oĕrˌē [key], partially enclosed coastal body of water, having an open connection with the ocean, where freshwater from inland is mixed with saltwater from the sea. One type of est...

Hezbollah

(Encyclopedia)Hezbollah [Arab., = Party of God], Lebanese Shiite political party and militia. Founded in 1982 with Iranian help to oppose Israeli forces occupying S Lebanon, Hezbollah launched guerrilla attacks...