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tanuki

(Encyclopedia)tanuki or raccoon dog, omnivorous mammal, Nyctereutes Procyonoides, of the dog family, native to the forests of E Asia. The tanuki is similar in appearance to a dog but has black, masklike facial mark...

Cardigan Welsh corgi

(Encyclopedia)Cardigan Welsh corgi, breed of short, long-bodied working dog believed to have been introduced into Wales from Central Europe c.1200 b.c. It stands about 12 in. (30.5 cm) high at the shoulder and weig...

ladybird beetle

(Encyclopedia)ladybird beetle or ladybug, member of a cosmopolitan beetle family with over 4,000 species, including 350 species in the United States. Ladybird beetles are mostly under 1⁄4 in. (6 mm) long and are ...

panda

(Encyclopedia)panda, name for two unrelated nocturnal Asian mammals of the order Carnivora, red pandas, genus Ailurus, and the giant panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca. Red pandas, also known as lesser pandas and cat be...

vulture

(Encyclopedia)vulture, common name for large birds of prey of temperate and tropical regions. The Old World vultures (family Accipitridae) are allied to hawks and eagles; the more ancient American vultures and cond...

Baker, Ella Josephine

(Encyclopedia)Baker, Ella Josephine, 1903–1986, U.S. civil rights activist, b. Norfolk, Va. Ella Baker was an activist and organizer whose b...

right whale

(Encyclopedia)right whale, name for whales of the family Balaenidae. They were so named by whalers, who for centuries considered them “the right whales” to hunt, because they float when killed and because they ...

Damascus ware

(Encyclopedia)Damascus ware, early siliceous-glazed semiporcelain produced in Damascus. The most common decoration is in blue and black. However, purple, sage green, and, rarely, a red can be found. Made mainly in ...

crowberry

(Encyclopedia)crowberry, evergreen alpine and arctic shrub of the genus Empetrum (or, sometimes, other related species), bearing black, red, or purple berrylike fruits. Some are cultivated in rock gardens. Crowberr...

Lead, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Lead lēd [key], city (1990 pop. 3,632), Lawrence co., W S.Dak., in the Black Hills; laid out 1876 after the discovery of gold there, inc. 1890. It is the site of the famous Homestake Mine, which was ...