Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

tortoise

(Encyclopedia)tortoise tôrˈtəs [key], common name for a terrestrial turtle, especially one of the family Testudinidae. Tortoises inhabit warm regions of all continents except Australia. They have club-shaped fee...

rue

(Encyclopedia)rue, common name for various members of the family Rutaceae, a large group of plants distributed throughout temperate and tropical regions and most abundant in S Africa and Australia. Most species are...

otter

(Encyclopedia)otter, name for a number of aquatic, carnivorous mammals of the weasel family, found on all continents except Australia. The common river otters of Eurasia and the Americas are species of the genus Lu...

East Timor

(Encyclopedia)East Timor –lĕshˈtā [key], Tetum Timor Lorosae, republic, officially Democratic Republic...

Devonian period

(Encyclopedia)Devonian period dĭvōˈnēən [key], fourth period of the Paleozoic era of geologic time between 408 and 360 million years ago (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table). It was named (...

hair

(Encyclopedia)CE5 A. Cross section of a hair shaft B. General structure of a hair hair, slender threadlike outgrowth from the skin of mammals. In some animals hair grows in dense profusion and is called fur or ...

American Samoa

(Encyclopedia)American Samoa, officially Territory of American Samoa, unincorporated territory of the United States (2015 est. pop. 56,000), comprising the eastern half of the Samoa island chain in the South Pacifi...

automobile racing

(Encyclopedia)automobile racing, sport in which specially designed or modified automobiles race on any of various courses. Automobile racing originated in France in 1894 and appeared in the United States the follow...

nomad

(Encyclopedia)nomad nōˈmădˌ [key], one of a group of people without fixed habitation, especially pastoralists. (Some authorities prefer the terms “nonsedentary” or “migratory” rather than “nomadic” ...

Browse by Subject