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cockle

(Encyclopedia)cockle, common name applied to the heart-shaped, jumping or leaping marine bivalve mollusks, belonging to the order Eulamellibranchia. The brittle shells are of uniform size, are obliquely spherical, ...

kangaroo

(Encyclopedia)kangaroo, name for a variety of hopping marsupials, or pouched mammals, of the family Macropodidae, found in Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea. The term is applied especially to the large kangaroos ...

carbon cycle

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Carbon cycle carbon cycle, in biology, the exchange of carbon between living organisms and the nonliving environment. Inorganic carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is converted by plants into sim...

Brachiopoda

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Internal anatomy of a lamp shell, Magellania, representative of the phylum Brachiopoda Brachiopoda brākēŏpˈədə [key], phylum of shelled sessile or sedentary marine animals, commonly know...

fur

(Encyclopedia)fur, hairy covering of an animal, especially the skins of animals that have thick, soft, close-growing hair next to the skin itself and coarser protective hair above it. The underhair is frequently ca...

Newfoundland, breed of dog

(Encyclopedia)Newfoundland, breed of massive, powerful working dog developed in Newfoundland, probably in the 17th cent., and later perfected in England. It stands from 25 to 28 in. (63.5–71.1 cm) high at the sho...

llama

(Encyclopedia)llama läˈmə [key], South American domesticated ruminant mammal, Lama glama, of the camel family. Genetic studies indicate that it is descended from the guanaco. Smaller than the camel and lacking a...

Lorenz, Konrad

(Encyclopedia)Lorenz, Konrad kônˈrät lôrˈĕnts [key], 1903–89, Austrian zoologist and ethologist. He received medical training at the Univ. of Vienna and spent two years at the medical school of Columbia Uni...

aschelminths

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Internal anatomy of a female rotifer, representative of the phylum Aschelminthes aschelminths ăsk-hĕlmĭnˈthz [key], large assemblage of loosely related, wormlike organisms of extremely var...

Rottweiler

(Encyclopedia)Rottweiler rŏtˈwīlər [key], breed of sturdy working dog developed from a Roman cattle dog introduced into S Germany more than 1,900 years ago. It stands from 213⁄4 to 27 in. (55.3–68.6 cm) hig...