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jackrabbit
jackrabbit popular name for several hares of W North America, characterized by very long legs and ears. Jackrabbits are powerful jumpers and fast runners. In normal progress leaps are alternated with running steps; when pursued the hare runs fast and close to the ground. Jackrabbits are found W o...
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drug resistance
drug resistance condition in which infecting bacteria can resist the destructive effects of drugs such as antibiotics and sulfa drugs . Drug resistance has become a serious public health problem, since many disease-causing bacteria are no longer susceptible to previously effective drug therapi...
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musk deer
musk deer small, antlerless deer, Moschus moschiferus, found in wet mountain forests from Siberia and Korea to the Himalayas. In summer it ranges up to 8,000 ft (2,400 m). It is from 20 to 24 in. (50-60 cm) high at the shoulder, with a brown coat, a pointed face, and large ears. The male has tusk...
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deafness
deafness partial or total lack of hearing. It may be present at birth (congenital) or may be acquired at any age thereafter. A person who cannot detect sound at an amplitude of 20 decibels in a frequency range of from 800 to 1,800 vibrations per second is said to be hard of hearing. The ear norma...
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pack rat
pack rat rodent of the genus Neotoma, of North and Central America, noted for its habit of collecting bright, shiny objects and leaving other objects, such as nuts or pebbles, in their place; also called trade rat or wood rat. Most common in the southern and western parts of the United States, ...
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mastiff
mastiff , breed of very large, powerful working dog developed in England more than 2,000 years ago. It stands from 27 to 33 in. (68.6-83.8 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs from 165 to 185 lb (74.9-83.9 kg). Its coarse, short, close-lying coat may be silver fawn, apricot, or dark fawn brindle in...
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dingo
dingo , wild dog ( Canis lupus dingo ) of Australia, believed to have been introduced thousands of years ago from SE Asia by the aboriginal settlers of that continent; currently regarded as a subspecies of the gray wolf . The only large carnivorous mammal found in Australia by the first European co...
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aye-aye
aye-aye , name for an aberrant primate, Daubentonia madagascariensis, related to the lemurs but distinguished by its specialized teeth and fingers. A large nocturnal and arboreal primate, it is found in dense bamboo forests in two isolated regions of Madagascar. The aye-aye is about the size of ...
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Lake Itasca
Lake Itasca , shallow lake, 2 sq mi (5.2 sq km), in a pine-wooded swampy region, NW Minn. Henry R. Schoolcraft identified the lake (1832) as the source of the Mississippi; stepping stones cross the river at its exit point. Although inarguably the source of the named river, the river's true physical ...
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conservation laws
conservation laws in physics, basic laws that together determine which processes can or cannot occur in nature; each law maintains that the total value of the quantity governed by that law, e.g., mass or energy, remains unchanged during physical processes. Conservation laws have the broadest possib...
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