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Superior, Lake

(Encyclopedia) Superior, Lake, largest freshwater lake in the world, 31,820 sq mi (82,414 sq km), 350 mi (563 km) long and 160 mi (257 km) at its greatest width, bordered on the W by NE Minnesota, on…

kangaroo

(Encyclopedia) kangaroo, name for a variety of hopping marsupials, or pouched mammals, of the family Macropodidae, found in Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea. The term is applied especially to the…

Neptune, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia) Neptune, in astronomy, 8th planet from the sun at a mean distance of about 2.8 billion mi (4.5 billion km) with an orbit lying between those of Uranus and the dwarf planet Pluto; its…

Paleozoic era

(Encyclopedia) Paleozoic eraPaleozoic erapāˌlēəzōˈĭk [key], a major division (era) of geologic time (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table) occurring between 570 to 240 million years…

Ordovician period

(Encyclopedia) Ordovician periodOrdovician periodôrdəvĭshˈən [key] [from the Ordovices, ancient tribe of N Wales], second period of the Paleozoic era of geologic time (see Geologic Timescale,…

catfish

(Encyclopedia) catfish, common name applied to members of the fish families constituting the order Siluriformes, found in fresh and coastal waters. Catfish are named for the barbels (“whiskers”)…

tunicate

(Encyclopedia) tunicatetunicatet&oomacr;ˈnəkĭt [key], marine animal of the phylum Chordata, which also includes the vertebrates. The adult form of most tunicates (also called urochordates) shows…

Tertiary period

(Encyclopedia) Tertiary periodTertiary periodtûrˈshēĕrˌē [key], name for the major portion of the Cenozoic era, the most recent of the geologic eras (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale,…

Miocene epoch

(Encyclopedia) Miocene epochMiocene epochmīˈəsēn [key], fourth epoch of the Tertiary period in the Cenozoic era of geologic time (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table), lasting from…

continental drift

(Encyclopedia) CE5 Continental drift (arrows indicate the directions of motion of the landmasses) A. Proposed reconstruction of the supercontinent Pangaea indicating the major present landmasses B…