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elephant seal

(Encyclopedia)elephant seal or sea elephant, a true seal of the genus Mirounga. It is the largest of the fin-footed mammals, or pinnipeds, exceeding the walrus in size. There is a northern species, Mirounga angusti...

dogfish

(Encyclopedia)dogfish, name for a number of small sharks of several different families. Best known are the spiny dogfishes (family Squalidae) and the smooth dogfishes (family Triakidae). Spiny dogfishes have two sp...

dragonfly

(Encyclopedia)dragonfly, any insect of the order Odonata, which also includes the damselfly. Members of this order are generally large predatory insects and characteristically have chewing mouthparts and four membr...

Darwin's finches

(Encyclopedia)Darwin's finches or Galapagos finches gəläˈpəgōsˌ [key], species of small perching birds, constituting the subfamily Geospizinae of the tanager family. Not related to the true finches, this grou...

fertilizer

(Encyclopedia)fertilizer, organic or inorganic material containing one or more of the nutrients—mainly nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, and other essential elements required for plant growth. Added to the soi...

Plymouth, city, England

(Encyclopedia)Plymouth, city and unitary authority (1991 pop. 238,583), SW England, on Plymouth Sound. The three towns that Plymouth has comprised since 1914 are Plymouth, Stonehouse, and Devonport; the suburbs of ...

Nevins, Allan

(Encyclopedia)Nevins, Allan, 1890–1971, American historian, b. Camp Point, Ill. After studying at the Univ. of Illinois, he followed a career in journalism until 1927. Teaching at Columbia from 1928, he became a ...

parthenogenesis

(Encyclopedia)parthenogenesis pärˌthənōjĕnˈəsĭs [key] [Gr.,=virgin birth], in biology, a form of reproduction in which the ovum develops into a new individual without fertilization. Natural parthenogenesis ...

Wallis and Futuna Islands

(Encyclopedia)Wallis and Futuna Islands wŏlˈĭs, fo͞oto͞oˈnä [key], officially Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands, French overseas territory (2015 est. pop. 12,000), 106 sq mi (274 sq km), S Pacific, ...

stork

(Encyclopedia)stork, common name for members of a family of long-legged wading birds. The storks are related to the herons and ibises and are found in most of the warmer parts of the world. Storks have long, broad,...