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boat-billed heron

(Encyclopedia)boat-billed heron or boatbill, a tropical New World heron, Chochlearius chochlearius. With shorter legs and a squatter appearance than most herons, this bird is remarkable chiefly for its broad bill, ...

Tibetan terrier

(Encyclopedia)Tibetan terrier, breed of medium-sized dog originating in Tibet probably several thousand years ago. It stands from 14 to 16 in. (35.6–40.6 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs from 15 to 30 lb (6.8�...

stoneware

(Encyclopedia)stoneware, hard pottery made from siliceous paste, fired at high temperature to vitrify (make glassy) the body. Stoneware is heavier and more opaque than porcelain and differs from terra-cotta in bein...

dodo, extinct bird

(Encyclopedia)dodo, a flightless forest-dwelling bird of Mauritius, extinct since the late 17th cent. The dodo was closely related to the Rodrigues solitaire, extinct flightless giant found on another island in the...

chinchilla

(Encyclopedia)chinchilla chĭnchĭlˈə [key], small burrowing rodent of South America. It lives in colonies at high altitudes (up to 15,000 ft/4,270 m) in the Andes of Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. One of the costlies...

Israëls, Jozef

(Encyclopedia)Israëls, Jozef yōˈzəf ēsˈräĕls [key], 1824–1911, Dutch genre painter. In Amsterdam he painted somber and moving scenes from the life of the Dutch fishermen and peasantry, for which he soon b...

Hunter, John

(Encyclopedia)Hunter, John, 1728–93, Scottish anatomist and surgeon, studied under his brother, William Hunter. A pioneer in comparative anatomy and morphology who is sometimes called the father of modern surgery...

Front Range

(Encyclopedia)Front Range, an eastern range of the U.S. Rocky Mts., bordering the Great Plains and extending c.300 mi (480 km) S from SE Wyo. to the Arkansas River, S central Colo. It has several peaks, including G...

Norwegian elkhound

(Encyclopedia)Norwegian elkhound, breed of compact hound whose origins in Norway go back more than 5,000 years. It stands about 19 in. (48.3 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs between 40 and 50 lb (18.1–22.7 kg)...

Marais

(Encyclopedia)Marais märāˈ [key] [Fr.,=swamp], old quarter of Paris, on the right bank of the Seine. Until the 18th cent. it was the most aristocratic section of Paris. The Hôtel des Tournelles, long the reside...