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Pag
Pag , Ital. Pago, island (101 sq mi/262 sq km), in the Adriatic, off the Dalmatian coast, Croatia. Noted for its fine embroidery and lace, it also has vineyards, a fishing industry, and bauxite deposits. The chief village is Pag, a resort on the eastern coast; it has a palace and a cathedral from ...
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American Samoa
American Samoa officially Territory of American Samoa, unincorporated territory of the United States (2000 pop. 57,291), comprising the eastern half of the Samoa island chain in the South Pacific. The group (76 sq mi/197 sq km) consists of several major islands: Tutuila , the Manu'a group (Ta'...
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adaptive radiation
adaptive radiation in biology, the evolution of an ancestral species, which was adapted to a particular way of life, into many diverse species, each adapted to a different habitat. Adaptive radiation has occurred in the evolution of many groups of organisms, and is clearly illustrated by Hawaiian h...
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Darwin's finches
Darwin's finches or Galapagos finches , species of small finches, constituting the subfamily Geospizinae of the finch family. This group of thirteen species is confined to the Galápagos Islands, except a single species found on Cocos Island, about 600 mi (960 km) northeast. Their special ...
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Samoa
Samoa chain of volcanic islands in the South Pacific, comprising the independent nation of Samoa (formerly Western Samoa), and E of long. 171° W, the islands of American Samoa , under U.S. control. The Samoan islands extend c.350 mi (560 km), with a total land area of c.1,200 sq mi (3,110 sq...
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hydrothermal vent
hydrothermal vent crack along a rift or ridge in the deep ocean floor that spews out water heated to high temperatures by the magma under the earth's crust. Some vents are in areas of seafloor spreading , and in some locations water temperatures above 350°C (660°F) have been recorded. The ...
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penguin
penguin originally the common name for the now extinct great auk of the N Atlantic and now used (since the 19th cent.) for the unrelated, generally antarctic diving birds of the Southern Hemisphere. Penguins, which are related most closely to the albatrosses , are the most highly specialized of ...
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tortoise
tortoise , common name for a terrestrial turtle , especially one of the family Testudinidae. Tortoises inhabit warm regions of all continents except Australia. They have club-shaped feet with reduced toes adapted for walking on land, and nearly all have high-domed shells. The limbs are covered with...
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Ecuador
Ecuador [Span., = equator], officially Republic of Ecuador, republic (2005 est. pop. 13,364,000), 109,483 sq mi (283,561 sq km), W South America. Ecuador is bounded on the north by Colombia, on the south and east by Peru, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. The capital is Quito ; t...
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