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sponge

(Encyclopedia)sponge, common name for members of the aquatic animal phylum Porifera, and for the dried, processed skeletons of certain species used to hold water. Over 4,500 living species are known; they are found...

bird

(Encyclopedia)CE5 General anatomy of a bird bird, warm-blooded, egg-laying, vertebrate animal having its body covered with feathers and its forelimbs modified into wings, which are used by most birds for flight...

cucumber

(Encyclopedia)cucumber, fruit of Cucumis sativus, a species of gourd whose many varieties are descended from a plant native to Asia and Africa. Cucumber is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliops...

homophony

(Encyclopedia)homophony hōmŏfˈənē [key], species of musical ensemble texture in which all voice parts move more or less to the same rhythm, in which a listener tends to hear the highest voice as the melody and...

newt

(Encyclopedia)newt, name for members of a large salamander family, widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere and including the common European salamanders. Newts are lizardlike in shape and are usually under 6 ...

lark

(Encyclopedia)lark, common name for members of the large family Alaudidae, perching birds of terrestrial habits, chiefly of the Old World and best-known through the skylark, Alauda arvensis. The horned larks belong...

Leidy, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Leidy, Joseph līˈdē [key], 1823–91, American scientist, b. Philadelphia, grad. Univ. of Pennsylvania medical school. From 1853 he taught anatomy at his alma mater. He was also professor of natura...

Sarcodina

(Encyclopedia)Sarcodina, the largest phylum (11,500 living species and 33,000 fossil species) of protozoans). It comprises the amebas and related organisms; which are all solitary cells that move and capture food b...

seahorse

(Encyclopedia)seahorse, common name for certain small fishes of the family Syngnathidae, inhabiting warm waters but sometimes found as far north as Cape Cod. The elongated head and snout of a seahorse, flexed at ri...

sedge

(Encyclopedia)sedge, common name for members of the Cyperaceae, a family of grasslike and rushlike herbs found in all parts of the world, especially in marshes of subarctic and temperate zones. The name sedge is al...