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porpoise

(Encyclopedia)porpoise, small whale of the family Phocaenidae, allied to the dolphin. Porpoises, like other whales, are mammals; they are warm-blooded, breathe air, and give birth to live young, which they suckle w...

gametophyte

(Encyclopedia)gametophyte gəmēˈtəfītˌ [key], phase of plant life cycles in which the gametes, i.e., egg and sperm, are produced. The gametophyte is haploid, that is, each cell contains a single complete set o...

prostate gland

(Encyclopedia)prostate gland, gland that is part of the male reproductive system. It is an organ about the size of a chestnut and consists of glandular and muscular tissue. It is situated below the neck of the blad...

Psilotophyta

(Encyclopedia)Psilotophyta sīlōˌtŏfˈətə [key], division of vascular plants consisting of only two genera, Psilotum and Tmesipteris, with very few species. These plants are characterized by the lack of roots,...

Stamford, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Stamford, city (1990 pop. 108,056), Fairfield co., SW Conn., on Long Island Sound; settled 1641, inc. 1893 as a city within the town of Stamford (the two were consolidated in 1949). A variety of light...

narwhal

(Encyclopedia)narwhal närˈwəl [key], a small arctic whale, Monodon monoceros. The males of the species, and an occasional female, bear a single, tightly spiraled tusk that measures up to 9 ft (2.7 m) in length. ...

isogamy

(Encyclopedia)isogamy īsŏgˈəmē [key], in biology, a condition in which the sexual cells, or gametes, are of the same form and size and are usually indistinguishable from each other. Many algae and some fungi h...

antique collecting

(Encyclopedia)antique collecting, the assembling of items of aesthetic, historical, and often monetary value from earlier eras. The term antique initially referred only to the preclassical and classical cultures of...

drying oil

(Encyclopedia)drying oil, any of several natural oils which, when exposed to the air, oxidize to form a tough, elastic film. The common drying oils are cottonseed oil (see cotton), corn oil, soybean oil, tung oil, ...

Bryophyta

(Encyclopedia)Bryophyta brīˈəfīˌtə, brīˌəfīˈtə [key], division of green land plants that includes the mosses (class Bryopsida), the liverworts (Marchantiopsida), and the hornworts (Anthocerotopsida). Th...