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symmetry, biological

(Encyclopedia)symmetry, biological, similarity or balance between parts of an organism so that when a straight cut is made through a point or along a line, equal, mirror-image halves are formed. Symmetry in body sh...

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 ...

nitrobenzene

(Encyclopedia)nitrobenzene, C6H5NO2, very poisonous, flammable, pale yellow, liquid aromatic compound with an odor like that of bitter almonds. It is sometimes called oil of mirbane or nitrobenzol. Nitrobenzene mel...

magpie

(Encyclopedia)magpie, common name for certain birds of the family Corvidae (crows and jays). The black-billed magpie, Pica pica or P. hudsonia, of W North America has iridescent black plumage, white wing patches an...

Koprowski, Hilary

(Encyclopedia)Koprowski, Hilary, 1916–2013, Polish-American microbiologist and immunologist, b. Warsaw, M.D. Univ. of Warsaw, 1939. He fled Poland after the Nazi invasion (1939), making his way to Brazil where he...

tarweed

(Encyclopedia)tarweed, any of several related resinous herbs (chiefly species of Hemizonia and Madia) of the family Asteraceae (aster family), having strongly scented and sticky herbage. Most North American species...

chicle

(Encyclopedia)chicle chĭkˈəl [key], name for the gum obtained from the latex of the sapodilla tree (Manilkara zapota), a tropical American evergreen. The sapodilla (known also by many other common names) is wide...

goldenrod

(Encyclopedia)goldenrod, any species of the large genus Solidago of the family Asteraceae (aster family), chiefly North American weedy herbs. They have small yellow flowers clustered, often in panicles, along a wan...

aardwolf

(Encyclopedia)aardwolf ärdˈwo͝olf [key], carnivore of the hyena family. The aardwolf, Proteles cristatus, resembles the true hyena but is smaller and more delicate. It has less powerful teeth and jaws and five i...

turnip

(Encyclopedia)turnip, garden vegetable of the same genus of the family Cruciferae (or Brassicaceae; mustard family) as the cabbage; native to Europe, where it has been long cultivated. The two principal kinds are t...