Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Nematoda

(Encyclopedia)Nematoda nĕmˌətōdˈə [key], phylum consisting of about 12,000 known species, and many more predicted species, of worms (commonly known as roundworms or threadworms). Nematodes live in the soil an...

botfly

(Encyclopedia)botfly, common name for several families of hairy flies whose larvae live as parasites within the bodies of mammals. The horse botfly secretes an irritating substance that is used to attach its eggs t...

cannibalism

(Encyclopedia)cannibalism kănˈĭbəlĭzəm [key] [Span. caníbal, referring to the Carib], eating of human flesh by other humans. The charge of cannibalism is a common insult, and it is likely that some alleged c...

Paleolithic art

(Encyclopedia)Paleolithic art pāˌlēəlĭthˈĭk, –lēō–, pălˌ– [key], art produced during the Paleolithic period. Study and knowledge of this art largely have been confined to works discovered at many s...

sex

(Encyclopedia)sex, term used to refer both to the two groups distinguished as males and females, and to the anatomical and physiological characteristics associated with maleness and femaleness. Sex relates to the t...

Landsteiner, Karl

(Encyclopedia)Landsteiner, Karl kärl läntˈshtīnər [key], 1868–1943, American medical research worker, b. Vienna, M.D. Univ. of Vienna, 1891. In 1922 he came to the United States to join the staff of the Rock...

Menchú, Rigoberta

(Encyclopedia)Menchú, Rigoberta rēˌgōbĕrˈtä mĕncho͞oˈ [key], 1959–, Guatemalan social reformer. Of Mayan descent, she and her family were caught in Guatemala's bloody civil war. Protesters against human...

Mercosur

(Encyclopedia)Mercosur or Mercosul, officially the Common Market of the South, Latin American trade organization established in 1991 to increase economic cooperation among the countries of E South America. It is co...

Moche

(Encyclopedia)Moche mōchēˈkə [key], ancient Native American civilization on the coast of N Peru. Previously called Early Chimu (see Chimu), the Moche were warriors with a highly developed social and political o...

Kassebaum-Baker, Nancy Landon

(Encyclopedia)Kassebaum-Baker, Nancy Landon kăsˈəbômˌ, –boumˌ [key], 1932–, U.S. senator from Kansas (1979–97), b. Topeka, Kans. A Republican and the daughter of Kansas governor Alfred Mossman (Alf) Lan...