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takin

(Encyclopedia)takin təkēnˈ [key], hoofed mammal, Budorcas toxicolor, found in Asia, most closely related to the musk ox. The takin is oxlike in build and may reach a shoulder height of 31⁄2 ft (107 cm). It has...

bighorn, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)bighorn or Rocky Mountain sheep, wild sheep, Ovis canadensis, of W North America, formerly plentiful in mountains from SW Canada to N Mexico. Indiscriminate hunting, disease, and scarcity of food enor...

Sierra Madre, mountain system, Mexico

(Encyclopedia)Sierra Madre dĕl so͝orˈ [key] is a tumbled, broken mass of uptilted mountains that touch the Pacific coast but form into no clearly defined range. It spreads over S Mexico between the volcanic belt...

Fujian

(Encyclopedia)Fujian fo͞oˈkēĕnˈ [key], province, c.48,000 sq mi (124,352 sq km), SE China, on Taiwan S...

Precambrian

(Encyclopedia)Precambrian, name of a major division of geologic time (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table), from c.5 billion to 570 million years ago. It is now usually divided into the Archean a...

Novaya Zemlya

(Encyclopedia)Novaya Zemlya nôˌvīə zĭmlyäˈ [key] [Rus.,=New Land], archipelago, c.35,000 sq mi (90,650 sq km), in the Arctic Ocean between the Barents and Kara seas, NW Russia. It consists of two main island...

Lake District

(Encyclopedia)Lake District, region of mountains and lakes, c.30 mi (50 km) in diameter, Cumbria, NW England. It includes the Cumbrian Mts. and part of the Furness peninsula. The district comprises 15 lakes, among ...

Maracaibo, Lake

(Encyclopedia)Maracaibo, Lake, largest lake of South America, c.5,100 sq mi (13,210 sq km), NW Venezuela, extending c.110 mi (180 km) inland. A strait, 34 mi (55 km) long, connects it with the Gulf of Venezuela. Di...

Saint Gotthard, mountain group, Switzerland

(Encyclopedia)Saint Gotthard sānt gŏtˈhərd, gŏtˈərd [key], mountain group of the Lepontine Alps, S central Switzerland, rising to Pizzo Rotondo (10,472 ft/3,192 m high). The Reuss, Rhine, Ticino, and Rhône ...

Rocky Mountain goat

(Encyclopedia)Rocky Mountain goat, hoofed ruminant mammal, Oreamnos americanus, found in the high mountains of S Alaska, W Canada, and the extreme NW United States. Although it is not a true goat it belongs to the ...