Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

grouper

(Encyclopedia)grouper, common name for a large carnivorous member of the family Serranidae (sea bass family), abundant in tropical and subtropical seas and highly valued as food fish. There are several genera, nota...

loris

(Encyclopedia)loris, name for slow-moving, nocturnal, arboreal primates of the family Lorisidae, found Africa and Asia. True lorises, found in India, Sri Lanka, and SE Asia, have round heads, large round eyes, and ...

onager

(Encyclopedia)onager ŏnˈəjər [key] or Persian wild ass, wild ass of central Asia, Equus hemonius onager. Formerly classified as a separate species, it is one of the several subspecies of Asian wild ass (E. hemo...

Père David's deer

(Encyclopedia)Père David's deer pĕr dävēdzˈ [key], Asian deer, Elaphurus davidianus, known only in a semidomesticated state. Also known as milu and elaphure, it has a bulky, donkeylike body, reaching a shoulde...

capuchin

(Encyclopedia)capuchin kăpˈyo͞ochĭn [key], name for New World monkeys of the genus Cebus, widely distributed in tropical forests of Central and South America. Medium-sized monkeys, they have a body length of 14...

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...

solenodon

(Encyclopedia)solenodon sōlēˈnədŏn [key], venomous insectivorous mammal, genus Solenodon, found in the West Indies. Related to moles and shrews, the solenodon resembles a rat with an elongated snout and coarse...

sculpin

(Encyclopedia)sculpin, common name for a member of the superfamily Cottoidea, bizarre fishes with large, spiny or armored heads and short, tapering bodies, found in both marine and freshwater habitats. The sculpins...

rocket, in botany

(Encyclopedia)rocket, in botany, popular name for several plants of the family Cruciferae (or Brassicaceae; mustard family). The dame's, or damask, violet, damewort, or sweet rocket is Hesperis matronalis, a hardy,...

rosewood

(Encyclopedia)rosewood, popular name for the ornamental wood of several species of tropical trees, especially for the heartwood of certain leguminous trees of the genus Dalbergia of the family Leguminosae (pulse fa...

Browse by Subject