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Lorenz, Konrad

(Encyclopedia)Lorenz, Konrad kônˈrät lôrˈĕnts [key], 1903–89, Austrian zoologist and ethologist. He received medical training at the Univ. of Vienna and spent two years at the medical school of Columbia Uni...

brasses, ornamental

(Encyclopedia)brasses, ornamental. Brass, a copper-zinc alloy produced since imperial Roman times, is closely associated in art with bronze, a copper-tin alloy (see bronze sculpture). Brass was generally fashioned ...

brucellosis

(Encyclopedia)brucellosis bro͞oˌsəlōˈsĭs [key] or Bang's disease, infectious disease of farm animals that is sometimes transmitted to humans. In humans the disease is also known as undulant fever, Mediterrane...

biodiesel

(Encyclopedia)biodiesel, fuel made from natural, renewable sources, such as new and used vegetable oils and animal fats, for use in a diesel engine. Biodiesel has physical properties very similar to petroleum-deriv...

bloodhound

(Encyclopedia)bloodhound, breed of large hound whose ancestors were known in the Mediterranean region before the Christian era. It stands about 25 in. (63.5 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs between 80 and 110 lb...

sociobiology

(Encyclopedia)sociobiology, controversial field that studies how natural selection, previously used only to explain the evolution of physical characteristics, shapes behavior in animals and humans. The theory has c...

taxidermy

(Encyclopedia)taxidermy tăkˈsĭdûrˌmē [key], process of skinning, preserving, and mounting vertebrate animals so that they still appear lifelike. The fur or feathers are cleaned, and the skin, treated with a c...

valine

(Encyclopedia)CE5 valine vălˈēn [key], organic compound, one of the 22 α-amino acids commonly found in animal proteins. Only the l-stereoisomer appears in mammalian protein. It is one of several essential am...

trilobite

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Dorsal view of a trilobite trilobite trīˈləbītˌ [key], subphylum of the phylum Arthropoda that includes a large group of extinct marine animals that were abundant in the Paleozoic era. Th...

shipworm

(Encyclopedia)shipworm or teredo tĕrēˈdō [key], marine bivalve mollusk of the family Teredinidae, specialized for boring in wood. A shipworm is not a worm, but a greatly elongated clam. Its two shells, enclosin...