Aa

adaptation n. Adaptation describes a physical or behavioral change which takes place in an animals. This change is normally permnent. It will help the animal to survive better in a particular environment. An adaptation can also be a temporary change. This might be when an animal migrates to a place with a better climate. Living things which can not adapt may becaome extinct.

adult n.A fully developed and mature animal, physically capable of breeding, but not necessarily doing so until social and/or ecological conditions allow.

aerial adj. Aerial describes anything that lives or moves about in the air. A bird is an aerial animal. The environment of air can also be described as aerial. Animals which are not aerial either live on land and are terrestrial or in water and are aquatic.

albino adj.Albino describes an animal which doesnot contain any color or pigment. An albino is often white. Many white animals are not true albinos because they have colored eyes, bills and legs. The eyes of a true albinos look pink because the blood vessels are showing. Very few albinos are found in the wild. They are easy to see, so they are caught and eaten by predators.

amoeba n. An Amoeba is a tiny organism made up of only one cell. An amoeba belongs to a group of living cells called protista. It lives in water or on damp ground. An amoeba moves by flowing into a new position. It eats by wrapping it's body around a piece of food and digesting it. An amoeba reproduces by splitting in two. It is so small it can only be see by a strong microscope.

amphi-, a prefix occuring originally in loadwords from Greek, meaning "two" or "both", "on both sides"

amphibian n. Amphibians are any cold-blooded vertebrate of any class Amphibia, including frogs, salamanders and ceacilians usually having an aquatic, gill-breathing tadpole stage and later developing lungs. 

animal n.Animals make up one of the five kingdoms of living things. Animals are organisms which can move around and can respond to the world around them. Animals eat plants or other animals. Scientists have discovered over one million different species of aimal on our planet but there may be many more. Animals are classified into vertebrates and invertibrates. There are five main classes of vertebrates - mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish. There are many classes of invertebrates.

annelid The Annelida, or segmented worms, constitute a major invertebrate phylum of the animal kingdom. The group numbers more than 9,000 species and includes three classes: the marine worms (Polychaeta), which are divided into free-moving and sedentary, or tube-dwelling, forms; the earthworms (Oligochaeta); and the leeches . . .

ant n.Ants are small, dark colored insects with hard covering. There are more then 10,000 species of ant. They are found in all parts of the world and in every kind of habitat. Ants are social insects and live in colonies. An ant coloy contains a queen, workers and soldiers. They live underground or inside a huge mound of  soil. Ants are strong and can easily carry something that weighs as much as 10-50 ants.

antenna n. (plural is antennae) are a pair of thin and delicate stalks on the head of almost every insect. They are send organs. Some insects use their antennae to smell and hear. Antennae also pick up information about heat, vibrations, chemicals and gases.

aphid n. Aphids are tiny insects. They have a soft, plump body, small head and tube-shaped mouth. Aphids pierce the stem and leaves of plants with their mouth and suck out all the juices. They can kill the plant. Aphids produce a liquid called honeydew. Some ants feed on honeydew and can be seen "milking" the aphids for this sticky liquid.

aquatic adj. describes anything which lives and moves about in water. The environment of water can also be called aquatic.  Animals which are not aquatic either live on land and are terrestrial or in air and are aerial.Some animals such as amphibians, spend part of their lives as aquatic

arachnid n.Archnids are animals that make up a group, or class, of invertebrates. This class includes spiders, scorpions, ticks and mites. Arachnids live in all parts of the world and in every kind of habitat. Their body is divided into two parts and they have eight legs. Unlike insects, arachnids do not have antenna and wings. They have a hard covering on their body which they moult as they grow. Most arachnids are carnivores and eat insects or small invertebrates.

arboreal adj. Referring to an animal that lives in trees; tree-climbing.

archipelago n. A group of islands.

arribada n. An arribada is a mass nesting of turtles. Perhaps the most famous arribada was recorded on film by an amateur cameraman, Ing. Herrera, and shown by Dr. Henry Hildebrand in 1961. It recorded an estimated 40,000 Kemp's ridley females nesting on a single day at one beach in Mexico, Rancho Nuevo.

arthropod n. Arthropods make up part of the group of invertebrates. The arthropod phylum  is the largest in the animal kingdom. Arthropods include insects, crustaceans and arachnids among a few. Arthropods live on aland and water in all parts of the world. All arthropds have a body with bilateral symetry; usually divided into distinct segments which may be absent, inconspicuous or fused together. Numerous paired appendages, may have antennae and wings. Has a hard exo-skeleton.

artiodactyla n. Referring to an even-toed ungulate (includes the cattle, pigs and ruminants).

asexual reproduction n.Asexual reproduction is reproduction which only involves one parent. Some organisms  like amoebas reproduce by splitting themselves into two. Other organism like sponges start a little growth on a parent sponge, in both these ways the little part grows into an independent adult.

avocado The avocado tree is a member of the laurel family. Its scientific name is Persea americana. It is distinguished by egg-shaped leaves, which can be 4 to 12 inches (10 to 30 centimeters) long, and by greenish flowers that lack petals. The oval or round fruit can have thick or thin green, purple, or black skin and can grow up to 9 inches (23 centimeters) in diameter and 4 pounds (2 kilograms) in weight. The butter-smooth flesh is yellow or pale green and surrounds a single large seed. There are three distinct varieties of avocados, each differing in fat content, appearance, and season of maturity. In addition to containing as much as 25 percent oil (the highest percentage of oil in any fruit except the olive), the flesh provides thiamine, riboflavin, vitamin A, and up to 2 percent protein.

BE AWARE. BE CONCERNED. SAVE THE ANIMALS. SAVE US. SAVE THE EARTH.

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