(Encyclopedia) elephant, largest living land mammal, found in tropical regions of Africa and Asia. Elephants have massive bodies and heads, thick, pillarlike legs, and broad, short padded feet, with…
(Encyclopedia) ElephantaElephantaĕlĭfănˈtə [key], island, c.2 sq mi (5.2 sq km), in Mumbai harbor, Maharashtra state, W India. It is noted for six Brahmanic caves, carved (8th cent.) from solid rock…
(Encyclopedia) elephant bird, extinct, flightless bird of the family Aepyornithidae. Once native to the island of Madagascar, these gigantic birds may have survived until as late as 1649. Today, they…
(Encyclopedia) Elephant Butte Dam, main unit of the Rio Grande project of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on the Rio Grande, SW N.Mex.; completed 1916. The dam, with its large reservoir, is used for…
(Encyclopedia) elephantiasiselephantiasisĕlˈəfăntīˈəsĭs [key], abnormal enlargement of any part of the body due to obstruction of the lymphatic channels in the area (see lymphatic system), usually…
(Encyclopedia) ElephantineElephantineĕlˌəfăntīˈnē [key], island, SE Egypt, in the Nile below the First Cataract, near Aswan. In ancient times it was a military post guarding the southern frontier of…
(Encyclopedia) elephant seal or sea elephant, a true seal of the genus Mirounga. It is the largest of the fin-footed mammals, or pinnipeds, exceeding the walrus in size. There is a northern species,…
(Encyclopedia) Alta CaliforniaAlta Californiaälˈtə kălˌĭfôrˈnyə [key], term used by the Spanish to refer to their possessions along the entire Pacific coast north of the Mexican state of Baja…
