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Sandiego - Zoo glossary Category: Animals and Nature > Animal Glossary Date & country: 27/09/2013, USA Words: 320

Neotropic
Having a distribution including Central and South America.

New World
Animals native to Central and South America. For example, New World monkeys are those found in Central and South America.

Niche
An animal's role within its habitat.

Nictitating membrane
An inner, third eyelid present in many land animals. Some can slide this across the eye (from the inner corner) to clean or protect the eyeball.

Nocturnal
Awake and active during the night, asleep during the day.

Nomadic
An animal that roams from place to place, never staying in one area very long.

Non-renewable
Natural resources that do not replenish themselves readily.

Old World
Animals from Asia and Africa. For example, Old World monkeys are those native to Asia or Africa.

Olfactory
The sense of smell.

Omnivore
An animal that eats all kinds of foods, both plants and animals.

Opposable thumb/toe
The first digit can be moved so that it can touch each of the other digits. It is used to grasp items.

Organic
Something that is raised or grown without synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or drugs.

Organism
Anything that is alive.

Ornamental plumage
On a bird, colorful feathers that do not blend into the surrounding environment as camouflage. These colors are often used to attract a mate.

Ossicones
Hair-covered horns found on the heads of giraffes. Ossicones are made of bone and are part of the skull.

Oviparous
Producing eggs that develop and hatch outside the body.

Ovoviviparous
Producing young from eggs that hatch inside the body. Some snakes, such as the common boa, give birth this way.

Pacing
Front and rear feet taking a step simultaneously on the same side of the body.

Parasite
An organism that lives in, on, or with another animal (called a host), getting what it needs to survive from that host.

Pelage
The coat of a mammal, such as its wool, fur, or hair.

Perennial plant
A plant that renews its top growth seasonally, living for an indefinite number of years.

Pest
A plant or animal that humans believe to be harmful or annoying.

Pesticide
A chemical used to kill insects.

Photosynthesis
The process by which green plants utilize sunlight to make food from carbon dioxide and water.

Pinion
To remove or bind the wing feathers of a bird to prevent flight.

Piscivorous
Fish-eating.

Plankton
Tiny organisms that float or weakly swim in the ocean.

Plantigrade
A way of walking on the soles of the feet, including the heels. Examples of animals that walk this way are bears and humans.

Plastron
The shell covering the underside (bottom) of a turtle or other animal.

Poaching/poacher
The illegal hunting or taking of wildlife out of its natural habitat/One who illegally hunts or takes wildlife out of its natural habitat for personal gain.

Pollen
Fine, powdery, yellowish grains that are the fertilizing element of flowering plants.

Pollinator/Pollinate
An animal, such as an insect or bird, that picks up pollen from a flower when it lands or feeds on the flower, and then deposits it on another flower when it stops to land or feed again.

Polygamous
Having more than one mate at a single time.

Population density
The number of persons who inhabit a unit area (usually per square mile).

Precocial
Young that are born or hatched fully able to care for themselves. Baby chickens are precocial.

Predator
An animal that hunts and kills other animals for its food.

Preen
In birds, to clean, trim, and smooth feathers with the beak or bill.

Prehensile
Refers to a body part that can be used like a hand for grasping or holding.

Prey
Noun: An animal that is hunted as food by another animal. Verb: To attempt to take an animal for food.

Primates
Members of the most highly developed order of animals, including humans, monkeys, and apes.

Producer
Organisms, such as plants, which are food sources for other organisms.

Protocol
Established procedures or rules for certain activities. For example, there are strict protocols for keepers when they work with monkeys.

Psittacines
Parrots and their relatives.

Pupa
The stage between the larva and the adult in animals that have complete metamorphosis.

Quadrat
A small rectangular plot laid off, as in a forest, range, pasture, or cultivated field, for the study of vegetation or animals. Also called a quadrant.

Quarantine
To isolate for the purpose of preventing the spread of contagious diseases.

Quill
A hollow, sharp spine, made of modified hair, found on the backs of animals such as porcupines, hedgehogs, and echidnas. The hollow shaft of a feather, or a type of feather.

Rabies
A viral disease that affects the nervous system in mammal. It can lead to paralysis and death. Rabies is spread from the bite of one mammal to another.

Regenerate
Formed or created again.

Regurgitate
To bring up food that is partly digested. Many bird species feed their young with food they have swallowed and then regurgitated. The regurgitated food is easier for the chick to swallow than whole food would be.

Rehabilitate
To care for an animal until it is in good health again and can be released to its natural habitat.

Reintroduce
To release a captive animal back into its native habitat in the wild.

Renewable
Resources that have the capacity to replenish themselves within a human's lifespan.

Repatriate
To send an animal back into the same wild area its ancestors came from.

Reproductive potential
The ability of an animal to reproduce given ideal conditions, such as good health and a safe environment.

Retractable
Cats (except cheetahs) and fossas have the ability to pull in, or retract, their claws when not in use.

Riparian
Community of plants and animals found along waterways.

Rodent
Generally, a small mammal with soft fur. Rodents have large front teeth (incisors) that never stop growing. Rodents are mammals. Guinea pigs, hamsters, mice, rates, and squirrels are all rodents.

Roost
A place where flying birds and bats rest or sleep, or where a bird builds its nest.

Ruminant
Having a multi-chambered stomach. Cows and goats are examples of ruminants.

Runner babies
Animal offspring that stay with their mothers all the time, as opposed to hiding in a secure place while their mothers search for food (see tucker babies). Giraffes and zebras are runner babies.

Sanctuary
A place of refuge for animals where predatory animals may be controlled and hunting is not allowed.

Sanguinivore
An animal that drinks blood.

Saurophagous
An animal that eats lizards.

Scale
A hard, flat, armor-like structure that covers the bodies of snakes, reptiles, fish, and the feet of birds.

Scat
An animal's fecal droppings.

Scavenger/scavenge
An animal that eats the remains of animals killed by others or animals that died of natural causes./To search for food left behind by others or to feed on such food.

Seasonal color change
The change that occurs in the color of a mammal's fur or a bird's feathers as winter or summer comes. For example, arctic foxes have white fur in the winter and brown fur in the summer.

Sexual dimorphism
A difference in appearance between males and females of the same species, such as horns, color, or size.

Sidewinding
A method of movement used by some snakes for traveling across loose surfaces such as sand.

Slash-and-burn agriculture
The method of agriculture in which people clear land by cutting down patches of the forest and burning the debris.

Social/social skills
Refers to animals that live in groups or communities./Skills animals learn that help them live successfully in groups.

Solitary
Living alone or with only one other animal, usually a mate, not in colonies or groups.

Spar
When two animals fight each other.

Species
A group of individuals that have many of the same characteristics, and are different from all other animals in some important way. Hamsters and mice are two different species of rodent.

Species Survival Plan (SSP)
A cooperative population management and conservation program for selected species at North American zoos and aquariums. Each SSP carefully manages the breeding of a species in order to maintain a healthy and self-sustaining captive population that is both genetically diverse and demographically stable.

Spine
A stiff, sharp projection on an animal; another word for quill.

Stalk
To creep silently and slowly towards something without being seen.

Stampede
A group of frightened animals running together to get away from danger. A herd of wildebeest might stampede to escape from a cheetah.

Studbook
Information about an animal species, including a listing of every individual animal of that species, its parents, date of birth, and current location in an animal facility. Studbooks help zoos keep track of animal populations.

Submerge
To go underwater. Hippos like to submerge to stay cool on a hot day.

Subordinate
An animal with a lower social ranking than the leader of the group.

Subspecies
A subdivision of a plant or animal species that shows differences from others of the same species. For example, there is a species of animal called lion; there are two subspecies of lion, the African lion and the Asian lion.

Succulent
A plant that usually grows in dry, arid areas, with thick, fleshy leaves that store water. Cacti and aloes are succulents.

Suffocate
To prevent breathing.

Survive/Survival
The ability of an organism to continue living or existing in its environment./The continuation of life.

Sustainable
Capable of being maintained for a long time.

Tadpole
The larva stage of frogs and toads, which is characterized by gills and a tail for life in the water.

Tagua
A type of nut used as an ivory substitute.

Talons
The claws of a bird of prey.

Taxonomy/Taxonomist
The science of the classification of organisms. Common names of plants and animals can vary widely, but their scientific (taxonomic) names are accepted worldwide. For example, the puma (or mountain lion) has more than 40 common names, but only one scientific name, Felis concolor, which identifies the animal anyplace in the world. A taxonomist is one who studies taxonomy.

Terrestrial
Belonging to or living on the ground.

Territory/Territorial
The defended part of an animal's home range./A territorial animal is one that defends its territory against intruders.

Threatened species
A government term denoting a species that seems likely to become endangered in the near future.

Torpor
A long period of rest or inactivity.

Toxic/Toxin
Something that contains a poisonous substance or toxin./A poisonous substance produced by an animal.

Translocate
To move an animal from one place to another.

Tusks
Long incisor teeth that grow outside the mouths of such animals as the elephant and walrus.

Understory
The forest layer beneath the canopy that includes small trees, young canopy trees, shrubs, and herbs.

Ungulate
An animal that has hooves, as a deer or horse.