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monitor, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)monitor, any of various, mostly tropical lizards. A monitor lizard has a heavy body, long head and neck, long tail that comes to a whiplike end, and strong legs with sharp claws. Its slender, forked t...

Argall, Sir Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Argall, Sir Samuel ärˈgəl [key], d. 1626?, English ship captain, prominent in the early settlement of Virginia. He commanded a ship sent to Jamestown in 1609 and had charge of one of the ships Baro...

Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de

(Encyclopedia)Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de (Antoine-Marie-Roger de Saint-Exupéry) äNtwänˈ-märēˈ-rôzhāˈ də săNtĕgzüpārēˈ [key], 1900–1944, French aviator and writer. He became a commercial pilot and...

San Luis Potosí, state, Mexico

(Encyclopedia)San Luis Potosí sän lo͞oēsˈ pōtōsēˈ [key], state (1990 pop. 2,003,187), 24,417 sq mi (63,240 sq km), central Mexico. San Luis Potosí is the capital. Most of the state lies on the eastern tab...

Imperial Valley

(Encyclopedia)Imperial Valley, fertile region in the Colorado Desert, SE Calif., extending S into NW Mexico. Once part of the Gulf of California, most of the region is below sea level; its lowest point is −232 ft...

Bedouin

(Encyclopedia)Bedouin bĕdˈo͞oĭn [key] [Arab.,=desert dwellers], primarily nomad Arab peoples of the Middle East, where they form about 10% of the population. They are of the same Semitic stock as their sedentar...

Andrews, Roy Chapman

(Encyclopedia)Andrews, Roy Chapman, 1884–1960, American naturalist and explorer, b. Beloit, Wis., B.A. Beloit College, 1906, M.A. Columbia Univ., 1913. Associated with the American Museum of Natural History, New ...

darter, bird

(Encyclopedia)darter or anhinga ănhĭngˈgə [key], common name for a very slender, black water bird very closely related to the cormorant. It frequents the wooded borders of freshwater lakes, rivers, and swamps i...

Hedin, Sven Anders

(Encyclopedia)Hedin, Sven Anders svĕn änˈdərs hĕdēnˈ [key], 1865–1952, Swedish explorer in central Asia. Following soon after Przhevalsky, Hedin explored Tibet, Xinjiang, and the Kunlun and Trans-Himalaya ...

John the Baptist, Saint

(Encyclopedia)John the Baptist, Saint, d. c.a.d. 28–a.d. 30, Jewish prophet, considered by Christians to be the forerunner of Jesus. He was the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth, who was also a kinswoman of Mary, th...