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tarpon

(Encyclopedia)tarpon tärˈpŏn [key], common name for members of the family Megalopidae, or Elopidae, large game fish of the warm seas of the Western Hemisphere, ranging occasionally from Long Island to Brazil and...

swordfish

(Encyclopedia)swordfish, large food and game fish, Xiphias gladius, of the warmer Atlantic and Pacific waters. It is named for its sharp, broad, elongated upper jaw, which it uses to flail and injure its prey of sm...

stilt

(Encyclopedia)stilt, common name for some members of the family Recurvirostridae, shore birds including the avocet. Stilts, as their name implies, have the longest legs of any bird except the flamingo. They frequen...

agouti

(Encyclopedia)agouti əgo͞oˈtē [key], name applied to rabbit-sized rodents of the genus Dasyprocta, found in Central and South America and in the West Indies. They have slender limbs with five front and three hi...

bullfrog

(Encyclopedia)bullfrog, common name of the largest North American frog, Rana catesbeiana. Native to the E United States, this species has been successfully introduced in the West and in other parts of the world. Th...

capybara

(Encyclopedia)capybara kăpĭbârˈə [key], mammal of Central and much of South America. It is the largest living member of the order Rodentia (the rodents) reaching a length of 4 ft (120 cm) and a weight of 75 to...

cardinal, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)cardinal or redbird, common name for a North American songbird of the family Fringillidae (New World finch family). In the eastern cardinal, Richmondena cardinalis, the male is bright scarlet with bla...

black snake

(Encyclopedia)black snake, name for several snakes, not all closely related, that are black in color. In the United States the name is applied chiefly to the black racer and to the black rat snake (Elaphe obsoleta)...

bluebird

(Encyclopedia)bluebird, common name for a North American migratory bird of the family Turdidae (thrush family). The eastern bluebird, Sialia sialis, is among the first spring arrivals in the North. It is about 7 in...

blue jay

(Encyclopedia)blue jay, common name for a familiar bird (Cyanocitta cristata) of central and E North America, allied to the crow, the raven, and the magpie, belonging to the family Corvidae. Almost a foot (30 cm) l...