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mousebird

(Encyclopedia)mousebird or coly kōˈlē [key], common name for small, slender birds, comprising six species in the single genus Colius of the family Coliidae. They resemble mice in their soft, hairlike body feathe...

nutria

(Encyclopedia)nutria koiˈpo͞o [key], aquatic rodent, Myocastor coypus, of South America, introduced in the S United States for its fur, which is similar to that of beaver but not as thick or durable. The nutria r...

limestone

(Encyclopedia)limestone, sedimentary rock wholly or in large part composed of calcium carbonate. It is ordinarily white but may be colored by impurities, iron oxide making it brown, yellow, or red and carbon making...

Millais, Sir John Everett

(Encyclopedia)Millais, Sir John Everett mĭlāˈ [key], 1829–96, English painter. A prodigy, he began studying at the Royal Academy at the age of 11. In 1848, together with William Holman Hunt and Dante Gabriel R...

walking stick

(Encyclopedia)walking stick or stick insect, names applied to extremely longbodied, slow-moving, herbivorous insects, forming a single family in the order Phasmatodea. Walking sticks have green, gray, or brown bodi...

thallium

(Encyclopedia)thallium thălˈēəm [key], metallic chemical element; symbol Tl; at. no. 81; interval in which at. wt. ranges 204.382–204.385; m.p. 303.5℃; b.p. about 1,457℃; sp. gr. 11.85 at 20℃; valence +...

titmouse

(Encyclopedia)titmouse, common name for members of the Paridae, a family of passerine birds, which includes the tits, titmice, and chickadees. They are small, active birds with short, pointed bills and strong legs....

puffer

(Encyclopedia)puffer or pufferfish, common name for some tropical marine fish of the family Tetraodontidae. The puffers and their allies, including the boxfish, the porcupinefish, the triggerfish, and the marine su...

paddlefish

(Encyclopedia)paddlefish, large freshwater fish, Polyodon spathula, of the Mississippi valley, also called spoonbill or duckbill and named for its flattened, paddle-shaped snout. The largest specimens weigh well ov...

peccary

(Encyclopedia)peccary pĕkˈərē [key], small wild pig, genus Tayassu, the only pig native to the Americas. Although similar in appearance to Old World pigs, peccaries are classified in a family of their own becau...