Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

48 results found

vertebrate

(Encyclopedia)vertebrate, any animal having a backbone or spinal column. Verbrates can be traced back to the Silurian period. In the adults of nearly all forms the backbone consists of a series of vertebrae. All ve...

Osborn, Henry Fairfield

(Encyclopedia)Osborn, Henry Fairfield, 1857–1935, American paleontologist and geologist, b. Fairfield, Conn. He was professor of comparative anatomy (1883–90) at Princeton, and professor of biology (1891–96) ...

Simpson, George Gaylord

(Encyclopedia)Simpson, George Gaylord, 1902–84, American paleontologist and zoologist, b. Chicago, Ph.D. Yale, 1926. He became assistant curator of vertebrate paleontology at the American Museum of Natural Histor...

Hertwig, Oscar

(Encyclopedia)Hertwig, Oscar ôsˈkär hĕrtˈvĭkh [key], 1849–1922, German embryologist. He studied medicine with Haeckel and Gegenbaur. In 1875 he established the fact that fertilization consists of the union ...

Gegenbaur, Karl

(Encyclopedia)Gegenbaur, Karl kärl gāˈgənbour [key], 1826–1903, German anatomist. A professor at the universities of Jena (1855–73) and Heidelberg (1873–1901), he was influential as a teacher. He emphasiz...

Shiwalik Hills

(Encyclopedia)Shiwalik Hills sĭwäˈlĭk [key], southernmost range of the Himalayas, S central Asia, extending c.1,050 mi (1,690 km) from SW Kashmir through N India into S Nepal paralleling the main Himalayan rang...

cyclostome

(Encyclopedia)cyclostome sīˈkləstōmˌ [key], jawless fish, member of the vertebrate superclass Cyclostomata (see Chordata). This group includes the hagfish and the lamprey. ...

elasmobranch

(Encyclopedia)elasmobranch ĭlăsˈməbrăngk [key], cartilaginous fish, member of the subclass Elasmobranchii of the vertebrate class Chondrichthyes (see Chordata). This group includes sharks, skates, and rays. ...

cladistics

(Encyclopedia)cladistics fīˌlōjənĕtˈĭk [key], an approach to the classification of living things in which organisms are defined and grouped by the possession of one or more shared characteristics (called cha...

chigger

(Encyclopedia)chigger, minute, six-legged, reddish larva of the harvest mite, one of various red bugs widely distributed throughout the world and common in the S United States. Attaching itself by its mouthparts to...

Browse by Subject