Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

goatsucker

(Encyclopedia)goatsucker, common name for nocturnal or crepuscular birds of the order Caprimulgiformes, which includes the frogmouth, the oilbird, potoos, and nightjars. Goatsuckers are medium in size and are found...

Paleocene epoch

(Encyclopedia)Paleocene epoch pāˈlēəsēnˌ [key], first epoch of the Tertiary period in the Cenozoic era of geologic time (see geologic timescale) between 60 to 66 million years ago. In W North America, the upl...

wapiti

(Encyclopedia)wapiti wŏpˈĭtē [key], large North American deer, Cervus canadensis, closely related to the Old World red deer. It is commonly called elk in America although the name elk is used in Europe to refer...

marten

(Encyclopedia)marten, name for carnivorous, largely arboreal mammals (genus Martes) of the weasel family, widely distributed in North America, Europe, and central Asia. Martens are larger, heavier-bodied animals th...

giant African land snail

(Encyclopedia)giant African land snail, any of several species of large terrestrial snails of tropical Africa that have become agricultural pests in other regions of the world. The species include the giant African...

Alegría, Claribel

(Encyclopedia)Alegría, Claribel, 1924–2018, Nicaraguan-Salvadoran poet, b. Nicaragua as Clara Isabel Alegría Vides, grad. George Washington Univ. (B.A., 1948). Her family went into exile in El Salvador when she...

Chibcha

(Encyclopedia)Chibcha chĭbˈchə [key], indigenous people of the eastern cordillera of the Andes of Colombia. Although trade with neighboring tribes was common, the Chibcha seem to have evolved their culture in co...

elm

(Encyclopedia)elm, common name for the Ulmaceae, a family of trees and shrubs chiefly of the Northern Hemisphere. Elm trees (genus Ulmus) have a limited use as hardwoods for timber, especially the rock or cork elm ...

turkey , in zoology

(Encyclopedia)turkey, common name for a large game and poultry bird related to the grouse and the pheasant. Its name derives from its “turk-turk” call. Turkeys are indigenous to the New World; American fossils ...

Quechua

(Encyclopedia)Quechua, Kechua kēchˈwä [key], linguistic family belonging to the Andean branch of the Andean-Equatorial stock of Native American languages (mainly in South America). Encompassing far more native ...