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The paca (Coelogenys paca) is a large, nocturnal, burrowing rodent found in central America. It attains a length of some 60 cm, has a stout body, with short limbs and a broad head. The body is marked by rows of white spots along the sides.
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Pace is the collective noun for a group of asses.
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Pachnephorus is a genus of small, elongate leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae) found living beside water.
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Pachybrachys is a genus of leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae) with black and yellow chequered elytra with a pattern varying from individual to individual.
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Pachycephalosaurus was a dinosaur of the Cretaceous period. Pachycephalosaurus was about eight metres long, walked on its hind legs and was furnished with a thick top to the skull.
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Pachydactyl describe a bird or animal having thick toes.
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Pachydermata was a classification for hoofed mammals distinguished by the thickness of their skins, and including the elephant, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, tapir, horse, and hog. The classification is now no longer used, as the group is recognised as artificial.
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Pachyglossal is a zoological term for lizards having a thick tongue and is applied to a group of lizards which includes the iguanas and agamas.
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Pachyrhinosaurus was a dinosaur of the Cretaceous period. Little is known about
Pachyrhinosaurus, a skull has been discovered which was 140 centimetres long, suggesting a body of perhaps six metres length. The skull had a short neck frill at the back of the skull, like Triceratops, but was devoid of horns.
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Pachyta is a genus of longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae). The larvae develop in spruce trees and other conifers.
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The Pacific American Milk Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum oligozona) is a rare species of Milk snake, or perhaps not a separate species at all, being similar in appearance to other Milk Snakes which occur in the Pacific region of Mexico and Guatemala. The Pacific American Milk Snake is red in colour with white bands sandwiched by black bands, fairly closely spaced on the dorsum.
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The Pacific Loon (Gavia pacifica) is an American wetland bird of the family Colymbidae. It swims low in the water has a greyish colour above, lighter below with a slender and straight bill which may be tilted up at a slight angle. It is a fairly common winter visitor along the California coast.
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Pack is the collective noun for a group of hounds.
Pack is the collective noun for a group of wolves.
Pack is the collective noun for a group of grouse.
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The pack moth (Anacampsis sarcitella) is a small moth which, in the larval state, is very destructive to wool and woollen fabrics.
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A packhorse is a horse used to carry goods. Even with the invention of the combustion engine and the development of trucks and lorries, packhorses remain a useful means of carrying loads through difficult terrain such as mountains, where wheeled transport cannot operate.
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The paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) or duck-billed cat, spoonbill sturgeon, is a large American ganoid fish found in the rivers of the Mississippi Valley. It has a long spatula-shaped snout.
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Paddlewood is the light elastic wood of the Guianan tree, Aspidosperma excelsum, that has a fluted trunk that readily splits into planks.
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Paddling is the collective noun for a group of ducks in water.
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Paederus is a genus of rove beetles, Staphylinidae. They are conspicuous by their bright colouring; a red pronotum and metallic blue elytra.
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Paeony is a genus of perennial herbaceous plants and shrubs belonging to the family Ranunculaceae.
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The Painted Lady (Vanessa Cardui) is a butterfly of the brush-footed butterflies family (Nymphalidae) found throughout the world with the exception of parts of South America.
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The Paisley terrier (Clydesdale terrier) is a breed of dog introduced into England around 1880. It is a similar shape to the Skye Terrier, but the coat is silky in texture and the colouring a glossy blue on the back, with tan legs and face markings.
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The Palaeonisciformes is an order of Actinopterygii. They are carnivorous and have a single large dorsal fin.
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Palamedea is a genus of South American birds.
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The Pale Brindled Beauty (Apocheima pilosaria) is a moth of the family Geometridae with a wing span of between 35 and 40 mm found in temperate parts of Europe, Asia and the Far East, flying from February to April.
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The Pale Clouded Yellow (Colias hyale) is a species of butterfly of the family Pieridae widespread throughout the warmer regions of Europe where it is to be found in steppes, meadows and fields. Two generations occur, between April and June and then between July and September.
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The Pale Eggar (Trichiura crataegia) is a moth of the family Lasiocampidae with a wing span of between 25 and 30 mm found in northern and central Europe and northern parts of Asia Minor mainly in woodland margins, areas with scattered copses, peaty meadows and heaths flying from August to October.
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The Pale Milk Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum multistrata) is a whitish coloured Milk Snake with black-outlined red saddle markings.
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Pale persicaria (Polygonum lapathifolium) is an annual herb of the family Polygonaceae native to Britain and Europe where it grows on stream banks, in ditches, beside ponds and on wasteland and cultivated land. It has ascending or prostrate branched stems, which are swollen above the nodes. The leaves are alternate, broadly ovate to lanceolate and have undulate margins and usually a brown spot shaped like a half-moon with whitish dots on the upper surface. The flowers are small, pinkish or greenish-white in colour and are arranged in longish, dense, terminal, erect spikes. The fruit is a three-sided achene.
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The Pale Pinion (Lithopane socia) is a moth of the family Noctuidae, with a wing span of between 38 and 42 mm found in the Palaearctic and flying from August, hibernating over winter and then flying again until the end of May.
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The Pale Prominent (Pterostoma palpina) is a moth of the family Notodontidae with a wing span of between 35 and 55 mm distributed through Europe and the warmer parts of the Palaearctic. One or two generations are produced flying from April to August.
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The Pale Shining Brown (Polia bombycina) is a largish moth of the family Noctuidae with a wing span of between 40 and 50 mm found in the temperate zones of Europe, Asia and North America where it inhabits deciduous forests and forest-steppes and lives also on arable land. A single generation is produced which flies from June to July.
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The Pale Stigma (Mesogona acetosellae) is a moth of the family Noctuidae with a wing span of between 35 and 40 mm found in the warmer regions of Europe and Asia in deciduous forests and forest-steppes where it flies from August to September.
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The Pale Tussock Moth (Dasychira pudibunda) is a common and widespread moth of the family Lymantriidae found in temperate parts of Europe and Asia where it is characteristic of deciduous forests, parks and gardens flying from May to June.
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The Pale-Shouldered Brocade (Lacanobia thalassina) is a moth of the family Noctuidae with a wing span of between 35 and 38 mm found in the forest belt of Europe and Asia flying from May to June.
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Paliurus is a genus of hardy deciduous shrubs which are natives to southern Europe and Asia Minor belonging to the family Rhamnaceae. They bear small, five-partite flowers followed by coriaceous fruit. One species, Paliurus aculeatus is believed to have been used to make Christ's crown of thorns in Christian belief.
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The pallah (Aepyceros melampus) is a species of South African antelope.
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The Pallas cat (Felis manul, manul, steppe cat) is an Asian wild cat living in rocky areas from the eastern border of the Caspian Sea to Tibet and Mongolia. It is about the size of domestic cat with soft, long, and thick fur which is whitish grey or light yellowish with black spots on the crown and black stripes on the rump. It eats small mammals and birds.
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A palm is a tree of the palmaceae family. They are found mainly in tropical countries. They usually have a an upright, unbranched stem and a head of large fan-shaped leaves.
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Palm-kale is a variety of cabbage which grows to around 3-4 metres tall.
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Palmar is a genus of jewel beetle (Buprestidae) ranging from six to twelve millimetres in length with a metallic back and symmetrically arranged dark spots.
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In botany, the term palmate is applied to compound leaves which comprise more than three leaflets arising from the same point.
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Palmelleae is a family of green-spored algae, amongst the lowest of plants and including the red snow and gory dew.
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Palmer Worm is a popular name for the hairy caterpillar of the tiger-moth.
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The Palmyra Palm (Borassus flabelliformis) is the common Indian palm, a tree found in the Middle East and India. When fully grown it reaches a height of 20 metres.
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Palomino is a horse colouring, but breeders in Britain and America are producing an American breed of horse known as the Palomino, which is bred for its colouring. The Palomino stands between 14 and 16 hands high and usually have a prolific mane and tail.
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Palorus is a genus of darkling beetles (Tenebrionidae) found in stored grain, flour and bran.
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Pampas grass (Gynerium argenteum) is a popular garden plant with tall flower- stalks, surmounted by beautiful silky panicles.
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Pamphillidae is the Web-spinning and Leaf-rolling sawflies family of insects of the super-family Megalodontoidea, order Hymenoptera.
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Panagaeus is a genus of beetles of the ground beetle family, Carabidae, found beside water or in damp meadows.
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Panax is a genus of trees and shrubs belonging to the family Araliaceae. They bear (usually) umbels of five-petalled flowers, and digitately or pinnately compound leaves.
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The panda is one of two carnivores of different families, native to north west China and Tibet. The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) has black-and- white fur with black eye patches and feeds mainly on bamboo shoots, consuming about eight kg of bamboo per day. It can grow up to 1.5m long, and weigh up to 140kg. The lesser, common, or red panda (Ailurus fulgens) is of the raccoon family, and is about 50cm long and is coloured black and chestnut, with a long tail.
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Pandaneae is a family of trees and shrubs, characterised by bearing unisexual flowers in crowded spadices, the female being followed by berries or wooden drupes.
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Pandanus (the screw-pines) is a genus of tropical trees and shrubs of the family Pandaneae, mostly natives of the Malay Archipelago.
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The pangolin or scaly anteater is a large mammal of the genus Manis, order Pholidota found in tropical Asia and Africa. The body, with the exception of the underside and the inner sides of the limbs, is covered by overlapping horny scales, between which are a few scattered hairs. When alarmed the animals roll themselves up into a ball, so as to present only the scales to the foe. The head is small, long, and pointed, and lodges the worm-like tongue, which is capable of being protruded to a great distance. The external ear is minute, as are also the eyes. Teeth are absent. The short limbs bear five toes on each foot, armed with claws which are best developed on the fore feet. On these feet the third toe is the largest, and bears a very powerful claw, which is the main agent used in burrowing and opening ant-hills. They are nocturnal and feed chiefly on termites.
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In botany, the term panicle refers to a variety of inflorescence known as a compound raceme. This is an arrangement in which the equal pedicels or branches of the peduncle are themselves branched.
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Panicum is a genus of grasses, mostly natives of the tropics, but a few species are hardy including the native British species Panicum glabrum and
Panicum Crus-galli.
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Panoplosaurus was a dinosaur of the Cretaceous period. Panoplosaurus was a member of the Ankylosaurus family, about seven metres long, walked on all-fours and had a massive head, the top of the skull being arched and covered with large armour plates which lay over the normal skull bones forming a second protective layer.
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The pansy is the popular name of various perennial flowers.
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Papaveraceae is a family of plants which includes the poppy, with flowers containing usually two sepals, four free petals, and hypogynous stamens. The fruit is a one-celled, many-seeded capsule, the seeds being inserted on incomplete septa which do not meet in the centre of the capsule.
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Papaya or pawpaw or papaw (Carica papaya) is a tropical American tree of the family Caricaceae with palmate leaves on an unbranched stem and an acrid milky juice which has the property of tenderizing meat. The fruit is similar in appearance to a mango and has a pinkish-orange flesh containing a mass of dark grey seeds, and is much esteemed for eating.
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Papiinae is the baboon family of animals. They are distinguished by a rounded head, with a moderately or strongly projecting muzzle, the eyes close together. The tail is absent and the breast, ears and buttocks are naked. They are sociable animals congregating in troops or packs and are omnivorous, the larger part of the diet being vegetarian, but occasionally local troops are found which are carnivorous.
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Papilio is the 'black' Swallowtail genus of butterflies of the family Papilionidae.
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Papilio demetrius is a Japanese butterfly of the Swallowtail family (Papilionidae) also found in China and northern India. The butterfly flies from April to October with two generations. The caterpillars are green with a dark saddle and white spots on the side of the body and live on various citrus plants.
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Papilio karna carnatus is a 'moss green' butterfly of the Swallowtail family (Papilionidae) found in northern Borneo. It is treasured by butterfly collectors on account of its beauty, the hind wings having a blue, flame- like pattern, a violet-brown eye and a green band.
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Papilionaceae is a division of plants of the family Leguminosae.
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Papilionidae is a family of more than 600 species of diurnal, heliophilous butterflies of medium to large size. The wings are large, compact and rounded, with the hind wings often concavely shaped on the inside and tapering to one or more spurs of varying width. The body is small compared to the wings, the head small and the eyes bare and ocelli are absent. The legs are long and thin, with the feet furnished with two claws. The front pair of legs is well developed in both sexes. The proboscis remains functional through adult life. The caterpillars vary from hairless to hairy and spiny, but all have a forked tubercle just behind the head, which is conspicuously coloured and has a pungent odour.
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The Papillon is a small companion dog believed to originate from Spain. They were very popular among the nobles of mainland Europe during the 17th century. They are an intelligent, tough and easy to train breed.
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In botany the pappus is the hairy crown which surmounts the fruit in most composite plants. It is really the metamorphosed calyx, and it serves the purpose of transporting the fruits through the air.
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Papyrus (Cyperus papyrus) is a tall aquatic plant of the sedge family, family Cyperaceae native to the Nile valley in Egypt.
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Par excellence is a disease of potatoes, first observed in Britain in a serious form in 1845. Usually the first sign of the disease is the appearance of brown patches upon the haulms and leaves. these spots appear about the time the plants attain their full growth, and when examined carefully are found to be surrounded by a ring of a paler colour. the whole of this ring is infested with a fungus (Peronospora infestans).
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The Paradise fish is a domesticated variety of a species of the genus Polyacanthus, related to the climbing perch. They are of a bright golden colour with transverse red bands, have a long forked tail and elongated rays of the dorsal and anal fins. They have been kept as pets by the Chinese for a long time.
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The parakeet is any of numerous small, slender parrots, usually having a long, pointed graduated tail. They are noted for their ability to mimic speech.
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Paralister is a genus of small beetles of the family Histeridae. Four species of the genus occur in Britain. They live chiefly in dung.
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Paramecium is a member of the order Holotricha. It is a simple single cell animal common in fresh water where there are decaying vegetable remains.
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Parandra is a genus of longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), mostly found in the Americas, but one species Parandra brunnea was introduced into Dresden, Germany in 1916 from North America.
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Paraniptus is a genus of Spider Beetle (Ptinidae).
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Parasaurolophus was a dinosaur of the Cretaceous period. It was a duck-billed dinosaur that walked on its hind legs and was about ten metres long with a tail that was flattened from side to side and probably used for swimming. Its head was surmounted by a tubular crest that curved back from the head to a length of 180 cm, being longer in the male than the female. In side the crest breathing tubes ran from the nostrils at the end of the nose up the crest and back down to the mouth, and possibly the crest would have enabled sounds to be made to signal to other animals.
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A parasite is an organism that lives in or on another organism - known as the host. The host derives no benefit from the parasite, and is often manipulated and harmed by the parasite. Many parasites use intermediary hosts as stages on their journey to animals further up the food chain, and in doing so will manipulate he behaviour of the host. For example, the malaria parasite utilises mosquitos in its journey to large mammals. Before it is ready to pass to the mammal, the parasite suppresses the feeding instinct of the host mosquito, thereby reducing the chances of it being killed. However, once mature and ready to move on the parasite encourages the mosquito to feed more voraciously, inmproving the likelihood that the malaria parasite will be passed on. Some parasites cause their hosts to commit suicide by being eaten, or behave in a manner which makes them much more vulnerable to predators, so that the parasite can move up the food chain to a higher host.
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Pardosa is a genus of wolf spider. Pardosa lugubris is a common and widespread British species found among leaf litter on woodland and forest floors where they actively hunt their insect prey, rather than spinning a web.
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Pareinae is the 'Asian Snail-eating Snakes' subfamily of reptiles of the typical snakes family, Colubridae, suborder Serpentes (Snakes). The subfamily contains two genera and about 15 species found in South-East Asia within rain forests and montane forests. The members grow to 90 centimetres in length. The members have a head distinct from the laterally compressed body and have long anterior teeth in the lower jaw. As their popular name suggests, the members of the subfamily feed almost exclusively on snails.
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Paridae is the tit (titmice) family of minute perching birds. They are small, very active and have a short, sharp beak.
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Parides bolivar is a butterfly of the Swallowtail family (Papilionidae) found only in the virgin forests of South America, along the upper reaches of the Amazon and the Orinoco Rivers.
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Parinarium is a genus of tropical trees and shrubs of the family Rosaceae, bearing sometimes edible fruit.
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Paris is a genus of herbaceous plants belonging to the family Liliaceae. They have creeping rhizomes, and bear erect, solitary, greenish flowers.
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The Paris daisy (Chrysanthemum frutescens) is a half-hardy plant with white flower-heads with yellow centres. It was introduced into England in the 17th century.
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Parksosaurus was a dinosaur of the Cretaceous period. Little is known about
Parksosaurus, all that has been found was a partial skull discovered in 1913 and identified in 1937 as belonging to a new species of dinosaur. From the skull it seems likely that Parksosaurus was a small dinosaur that walked on its hind legs and was about two metres long.
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Parliament is the collective noun for a group of owls.
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Paromalus is a genus of beetles of the family Histeridae. There are two species represented in Britain, they are glossy black beetles which live under tree bark, either deciduous trees as preferred by Paromalus flavicornis, or conifers.
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A parr is a young salmon with transverse bands living in a river and under two years old.
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Parrot refers to any bird of the order Psittaciformes, abundant in the tropics, especially in Australia and South America. They are mainly vegetarian, and range in size from the 8.5cm pygmy parrot to the 100cm Amazon parrot. The smaller species are commonly referred to as parakeets. The plumage is often very colourful, and the call is usually a harsh screech.
Parrots all have hooked bills and feet adapted for tree climbing.
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Parrot-fish is a popular name for a group of genera of the wrasse family, distinguished by the teeth soldered together so that the jaws form a sharp beak. Most of the species are tropical, but Scarus cretensis occurs in the Mediterranean feeding on seaweed.
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Parsley (Carum Petroselinum) is a biennial herb of the family Umbelliferae with a stout, white, vertical tap root. In the first year it produces a rosette of triangular, tripinnate leaves. In the second year it produces solid, branched stems with alternate, trifoliate, stalked leaves and terminal compound umbels of small, yellowish-green flowers. The fruit is an ovoid double achene which splits into sickle-shaped seeds.
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The parsnip (Peucedanum sativum) is a biennial plant of the family Umbelliferae, the tap root of which is eaten.
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The Parsnip moth (Depressaria pastinacella) is a moth of the family Oecophoridae with a wing span of between 23 and 28 mm common in meadows and beside running water in northern Europe and Asia where the caterpillar feeds on the umbels of parsnip and cow-parsnip. The adult moth flies from August to September.
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The partridge is any of various medium-sized ground-dwelling fowl of the family Phasianidae, which also includes pheasants, quail, and chickens.
Partridges are Old World birds, some of which have become naturalised in North America, especially the European grey partridge (Perdix perdix), with mottled brown back, grey speckled breast, and patches of chestnut on the sides.
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The Paso Fino is a Puerto Rican breed of horse developed during the 16th century from Spanish horses brought to South America by the conquistadors. The
Paso Fino was developed for its comfortable ride and endurance as at the time it was necessary to ride long distances. The Paso Fino displays three gaits: the
paso fino which is a slow-moving pace where the feet move up and down very quickly, which I used in the show ring. The paso orto which is equivalent to a trot, and is a comfortable gait for travelling long distances. The paso largo which is between a canter and a gallop. The Paso Fino stands between 14 and 15 hands high and occurs in any colour.
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The Passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) was a species of pigeon formerly found in North America. The Passenger Pigeon was notable for its long wings, long narrow tail and the mass migrations undertaken by huge flocks of the birds, with every tree for miles laden with nests of the birds. The Passenger Pigeon was excessively hunted for the table, in one year over 15 million birds were killed in Michigan and Pennsylvania and after almost becoming extinct in 1888 it finally became extinct in 1914 when the last known bird died in the Zoological Gardens at Cincinnati.
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The Passeres are the Passerine (perching birds) order of the Aves class of animals. They are characterised by the feet being adapted for perching on trees or on the ground, rather than for grasping, wading or swimming.
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Passerine describes perching birds, that is the Passeres.
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Passifloraceae is a family of mostly tropical trees, herbs and shrubs, with usually showy, regular flowers, followed by berries or capsules. Among the genera are Passiflora, Carica and Tacsonia. The edible fruit of several species is known as granadillas.
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The Passion flower (Passiflora) is a genus of chiefly American climbing vines or shrubs of the order Passifloraceae. They have variously lobed or undivided leaves, mostly alternate, and stout tendrils by which they climb. They often have large and showy flowers, often blue, purple, white, red or yellow in colour,. The cup-shaped recptavle bears four or five sepals, an equal number of petals, and a corona of very many spreading filaments. There are four or five spreading stamens with large anthers and a pulpy fruit which in some species is edible.
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Passion fruit is the name given to the edible fruit of the Passion flower.
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Patagosaurus was a dinosaur of the Jurassic period. Remains of Patagosaurus were found in Argentina during 1977 and the early 1980's and from these it appears it was a large, bulky herbivore that walked on all-fours and had a long neck and tail, being about 18 metres long and of the suborder Sauropoda, like Apatosaurus.
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Patchouli (Pogostemon Patchouli) is an Indian soft-wooded shrub growing to from 60 to 90 centimetres tall, and bearing dense spikes of purplish white flowers and broadly ovate leaves. From its wood is derived the Hindu perfume
Patchouli.
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Pathogen is a term for any disease-causing microorganism. Pathogens include viruses, rickettsiae, and many bacteria, fungi, and Protozoans.
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Patrobus is a genus of mostly wingless beetles of the ground beetle family, Carabidae. They are dark-bodied and are to be found in damp localities under stones.
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Paucituberculata is an order of Metatheria with just one family, Caenolestidae. The members are small, shrew-like animals with small eyes, and thick, grey or greyish-brown pelage. The margin of each upper lip is interrupted by a distinctive flap of skin. The tail is long but not prehensile, and the feet are not syndactylous. Females lack a pouch.
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Paullinia is a genus of evergreen tropical shrubs, mostly climbing plants, belonging to the family Sapindaceae. They bear axillary racemes of small flowers, followed by three-sided, somewhat pear-shaped fruits.
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The pea is a climbing plant of the family Leguminosae.
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The Pea Crab (Pinnotheres) is a small crab of the order Decapoda that lives inside marine bivalve molluscs, such as mussels and oysters, usually in shallow waters. It is pale in colour and the last pair of legs are armed with hooks for holding onto its host. The carapace is very thin, that of the female being almost uncalcified.
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The Pea Moth (Vydia nigricana) is a moth of the family Tortricidae with a wing span of between 10 and 15 mm found throughout the Palaearctic region and North America flying from June to August. The caterpillars develop towards the end of summer on pea, vetch and vetchling pods.
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The peach is a tree of the family Rosaceae.
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The Peach Blossom (Thyatira batis) is a moth of the family Thyatiridae with a wing pan of between 32 and 38 mm found in temperate Europe and Asia in forests with dense undergrowth flying from May to August.
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The Peach Twig Borer (Anarsia lineatella) is a moth of the family Gelechiidae with a wing span of between 12 and 14 mm distributed in the Palaearctic region as far as central Asia and also since its introduction in North America. The moths fly from June to July.
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A peacock is technically the male of any of various large pheasants. The name is most often used for the common peacock (Pavo cristatus), a bird of the pheasant family, native to southern Asia. It is rather larger than a pheasant. The male has a large fan-shaped tail, brightly coloured with blue, green, and purple 'eyes' on a chestnut background. The female (peahen) is brown with a small tail.
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The Peacock Butterfly (Vanessa io or Inachis io) is a medium-sized British, European and Asian butterfly of the family brush-footed butterflies (Nymphalidae) family with a prominent eyespot on each reddish-brown wing. The caterpillars feed on stinging nettles.
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The peanut (ground-nut, Arachis hypogoea) is a leguminous annual plant with a hairy stem and abruptly pinnate leaflets. The nut is situated at the end of a stalk of some length, and is ripened under ground, this stalk having the peculiarity of flowering and then bending down and pushing the fruit into the earth. Peanuts are extensively cultivated in tropical countries.
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The Peanut Worm is an unsegmented marine worm of about 320 species that lives in burrows in sediment, in calcareous rock or in coral. The body is usually divided into a stout trunk and a slender, retractable proboscis, encircled by tentacles.
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The pear (Pyrus communis) is a deciduous, usually thorny tree of the family Rosaceae, genus Pyrus. It is native to Europe and Asia. The leaves are narrowly lance-shaped to broadly oval. The flowers are white or pinkish, in flat-topped clusters, appearing before or with the leaves. The fruit has a characteristic gritty texture caused by the presence of stone-cells in the flesh of the fruit.
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The Pearl Grey is a breed of guinea-fowl.
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The Pear Sawfly or Slugworm (Caliroa cerasi) is a unicolour insect of the family Tenthredinidae about 5 mm long, found in woods and gardens. Two generations are produced in a year, developing in burrows in the ground - the larvae having previously lived on the leaves of trees and bushes.
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The Pearl-bordered Fritillary (Clossiana euphrosyne) is a widely distributed butterfly of the brush-footed butterflies family (Nymphalidae) found throughout temperate Europe and Asia.
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The Pearlfish is an elongate and very slender fish of the family Carapidae, widespread in tropical and warm temperate seas where it lives inside sea cucumbers, sea urchins and other marine invertebrates. It grows to about 30 centimetres long and has a pointed tail and no pelvics.
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The Pearly Heath (Coenonympha arcania) is a butterfly of the family Satyridae found in open grass woodland during June and July.
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Peasgood Nonsuch is an English species of apple first produced by Mrs Peasgood of Lincolnshire who raised this apple around 1855 and in 1872 it was introduced to the market by Laxtons as 'one of the most handsome apples in cultivation.' The apples are very large fruit and are excellent for baking and crisp and juicy if eaten fresh.
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The Pebble Hook-tip (Drepana falcataria) is a moth of the family Drepanidae with a wing span of between 27 and 35 mm found in central and northern Europe flying in two generations from April to June and July to August.
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The Pebble Prominent (Eligmodonta ziczac) is a moth of the family Notodontidae with a wing span of between 40 and 45 mm found in Europe and Asia in damp deciduous forests, overgrown hillsides and in urban parks. Two generations are produced flying from April to August. In mountainous environments, a single generation is produced.
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The pecan (Carya olivoeformis) or Illinois nut hickory is an American tree, with large pinnate leaves and bearing light-brown nuts enclosed in wooden husks.
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The peccary is one of two species of the New World genus Tayassu of pig-like hoofed mammals. A peccary has a gland in the middle of the back which secretes a strong-smelling substance. Peccaries are blackish in colour, covered with bristles, and have tusks that point downward. Adults reach a height of 40 centimetres and a weight of 25 kg.
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Pecten is a genus of Lamellibranch molluscs known variously as the scallops and clams. All the scallops are remarkable for the beauty of their shells, which are generally brightly coloured, and have the surface ornamented with radiating ribs. The two valves of the shell are unequal, usually almost circular, and have the hinge line prolonged into two ears. The animals have a beautifully fringed mantle bearing numerous simple eyes. Some species, especially when young, have the ability to swim by rapidly opening and closing the shell.
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The pectoral fins are a pair of fins situated just behind the head in fishes that help to control the direction of movement during locomotion.
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Pediacus is a genus of comparatively large beetles (about 4 mm long) of the family Cucujidae.
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Pedicellina is an entoprocta.
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Pedicularis is a genus of hardy herbaceous plants belonging to the family Scrophulariaceae. They bear spikes or racemes of flowers, whose corollas have swollen tubes and bilabiate limbs. The species include the British red rattle (Pedicularis sylvatica) and lousewort (Pedicularis palustris).
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Pedinus is a genus of darkling beetles (Tenebrionidae). Their eyes are divided into an upper and lower half.
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Pedipalp are each of the second pair of appendages attached to the cephalothorax of most arachnids. Pedipalp are variously specialized as pincers, such as in scorpions, sensory organs, as is the case with spiders, or locomotory organs, as is the case with horseshoe crabs.
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In botany, a peduncle is a stalk supporting a flower. If a peduncle is branched, its branches are known as pedicels.
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The pedunculate oak (Quercus robur) or common oak is a large deciduous tree of the family Fagaceae with a short trunk from which large branches arise to form a massive, round-topped crown. The brownish-grey bark is smooth at first, and later deeply fissured. The leaves are alternate, leathery, dark- green in colour, lobed and have auricles at the base.
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The pekingese is a breed of small long-haired dog first bred at the Chinese court as the 'imperial lion dog'. It has a flat skull and flat face, is typically less than 25 centimetres tall, and weighs less than 5 kg. The first specimens brought to the West were those taken during the Opium Wars when the Summer Palace in Beijing was looted in 1860. An affectionate breed they are also stubborn and pompous.
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Pel's fish owl (Scotopelia Peli) is a rare large African bird found in west Africa feeding on fish and small reptiles.
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Pelagic refers to animals that live in the open sea.
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Pelargonium is a genus of herbaceous and shrubby plants belonging to the family Geraniaceae, and mostly natives of South Africa. They bear irregular flowers, each with five imbricate sepals, and usually with five petals. The flowers are usually borne in few-flowered umbels, the peduncles being axillary.
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Pelecanidae is the Pelican family of birds of the order Natatores. They are characterized by a strong bill; the edges of the mandibles are minutely toothed; the wings are long; legs are short and have four toes all connected by a membrane.
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The pelican is any of a family (Pelecanidae) of large, heavy water birds remarkable for the pouch beneath the bill which is used as a fishing net and temporary store for catches of fish. Some species grow up to 1.8 metres and have wingspans of three metres.
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Pellaea is a genus of ferns known as cliff brake ferns, mostly natives of tropical countries. The sori are intramarginal, terminal on the veins, and the involucre is formed of the edge of the frond.
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Pellitory-of-the-wall or Lichwort (Parietaria officinalis) is a humble, inconspicuous plant of the family Urticaceae, belonging to the same group as the Stinging Nettle and the Hop. It is the only representative of its genus in Britain. The name of this genus, Parietaria, is derived from the Latin word panes (a wall), for it is very commonly found growing from crannies in dry walls, as its popular English name also tells us, and will frequently luxuriate in the midst of stony rubbish. It is a much-branched, bushy, herbaceous, perennial plant, one to two feet high, with reddish, brittle stems and narrow, stalked leaves one to two inches long. The stems and veins of the under surface of the leaves are furnished with short, soft hairs, the upper surface of the leaves is nearly smooth, with sunken veins. The small, green stalkless flowers grow in clusters in the axils of the leaves and are in bloom all the summer. The filaments of their stamens are curiously jointed and so elastic that if touched before the expansion of the flower,
they suddenly spring from their incurved position and scatter their pollen broadcast.
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Pelorosaurus was a dinosaur of the Jurassic period. Only partial remains have been discovered of Pelorosaurus, but from these it is believed there were about 20 species of the animal which was related to Brachiosaurus, and was about 24 metres long, with a long neck and tail and a bulky body supported by four thick legs. Between 1850 and 1900 various remains were found in the South of England and named Chondrosteosaurus, Dinodocus, Eucamerotus, Gigantosaurus, Hoplosaurus, Ischyrosaurus, Morinosaurus, Neosodon, Oplosaurus and Ornithopsis, but is probable they were all partial remains of Pelorosaurus.
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Peltodytes (formerly known as Cnemidotus) is a genus of crawling water beetles of the family Haliplidae.
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Pembroke cattle are a Welsh breed of cattle. They are black with glistening white horns tipped with black.
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The Peneia is a Greek breed of pony found in Eleia in the Peloponnese. The
Peneia stands 14 hands high, is placid and good natured, tough and hardy with good stamina and endurance.
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Penguins are any of the order Sphenisciformes of marine flightless birds, mostly black and white, found in the southern hemisphere. They range in size from 40 centimetres to 1.2 metres tall, and have thick feathers to protect them from the intense cold. They are awkward on land, but their wings have evolved into flippers, making them excellent swimmers. Penguins congregate to breed in 'rookeries', and often spend many months incubating their eggs while their mates are out at sea feeding.
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Penicillin (Penicillium) is a genus of ascomycetous fungi of the mildew group. Penicillium glaucum is a very common mould on bread and other articles of food. When grown in saccharine solutions it assumes a torula condition, giving rise to isolated cells, which, like those of yeast, excite alcoholic fermentation.
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Pennatula or sea-pen is a colony of polypes, belonging to the Alcyonaria, and related to such forms as the red coral and the organ pipe coral. The lower part of the colony corresponds to the quill of the feather, and is devoid of polypes, this portion being fixed in the sea-bottom, the top being somewhat dilated. The upper portion resembles the vane of a feather, the barbs being formed of polypes fused together. Each polype bears eight tentacles.
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Pennisetum is a genus of tropical and subtropical annual grasses.
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Pentaceratops was a dinosaur of the Cretaceous period. Pentaceratops was a herbivore, about seven metres long, that walked on all fours and had five forward-facing spikes; one above each eye, one on the snout, and two on each cheek at the bottom of a bony neck frill, similar to triceratops but a little smaller and with a longer snout-spike and the spikes above each eye pointing more upwards than forwards.
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Pentacrinus is a genus of stalked crinoids, found as fossils from the Trias onwards, and containing numerous living species. The living species are most abundant in water of a few hundred fathoms in depth. The stem is covered with cirri which are arranged in whorls of five throughout the length.
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Pentodon is a genus of beetle of the family Scarabaeidae.
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Pentstemon is a genus of mostly hardy herbaceous plants belonging to the family Scrophulariaceae. They are for the most part natives of North America and bear flowers of varied colours.
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Peony (Paeonia officinalis) is a poisonous perennial herb of the family Paeoniceae with tuberous fleshy roots and a stout, erect, branched, glabrous stem. The leaves are ternate or biternate and have ovate to lanceolate segments, dark-green above and a lighter colour below. The flowers are terminal, showy, and red or white in colour with eight petals and five petal- like sepals. The fruit is a capsule with shiny black seeds.
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Peperomia is a genus of herbaceous plants, mostly natives of the tropics, belonging to the family Piperaceae. They are usually fleshy plants, bearing small flowers, without sepals or petals, each with two stamens. They are for the most part small plants, with curiously marked foliage, and many are of trailing habit.
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Pepper or Piper is a genus of tropical shrubs belonging to the family Piperaceae.
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Pepper Root (Dentaria diphylla) is a North American cruciferous plant which bears racemes of small white flowers, and has a root with a pungent taste, not unlike that of mustard.
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The Peppered Moth (Biston betularia) is a polymorphic moth of the family Geometridae with a wing span of between 35 and 60 mm found in the deciduous tree zone of Europe and Asia flying from May to July.
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Peppermint (Mentha Piperita) is a perennial herbaceous plant of the family Labiatae native to Britain, with a creeping root, a smooth, square, erect, reddish coloured stem, stalked, ovate, opposite dark-green or reddish coloured leaves, and lax spikes of small reddish-violet flowers. The whole plants yields a marked aromatic odour.
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Peramelemorphia is the bandicoot order of Metatheria.
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Peramelidae is a family of marsupials belonging to the order Peramelemorphia.
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The perch is any of the largest order of spiny-finned bony fishes, the Perciformes, with some 8,000 species. This order includes the sea basses, cichlids, damselfishes, mullets, barracudas, wrasses, and gobies. Perches of the freshwater genus Perca are found in Europe, Asia, and North America. They have varied shapes and are usually a greenish colour. They are very prolific, spawning when about three years old, and have voracious appetites.
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The Percheron is a breed of strong and swift heavy horse originally bred in the Le Perche district of north France. They stand between 15 and 17 hands high and are mostly black or grey in colour. They have been used as war horses, for draught work, for agricultural work and as riding horses.
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The Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) is a dignified bird of the sub-family Falconinoe. The upper plumage is dark bluish grey with darker bands. The head is coloured black as are the moustaches descending from the gape. The lower plumage is white, the breast transversely barred with brown. The beak is blue and darker at the point. The cere is yellow as are the feet with black claws. The length is around 40 centimetres, the female being larger than the male.
Traditionally Peregrine falcons live in the countryside, but at the start of the 21st century they started moving into British cities, including London, where there was an abundance of food - their staple diet being pigeons supplemented by other birds and occasional small mammals, and even the occasional barn owl.
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A perennial plant is one that lives for several years, as distinguished from annuals and biennials, whose life is only one or two years respectively.
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Perennial wall-rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia) is an ascending, almost hairless perennial of the family Cruciferae with stems which are woody at the base. The lower leaves are pinnately divided and rather fleshy. The flowers have yellow petals. The fruits are slender siliquae carried erect on spreading stalks.
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In botany, the perianth is the outer floral envelope - calyx and corolla - which surrounds and to some extent protects the essential organs of generation in a flower. As a rule it consists of an outer layer of greenish parts called sepals, and an inner layer of brightly coloured parts called petals; but sometimes one or other of these layers is missing, and sometimes though they are both present, they are indistinguishable from each other. Many plants, especially trees, contain no trace of a perianth in their flowers, and these are usually wind propagated.
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The pericarp is the wall of the ripened ovary of a plant.
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A perigynous plant is one which has stamens situated around the pistil or ovary.
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Perileptus is a genus of small beetles of the ground beetle family, Carabidae. Perileptus areolatus is a species found in Britain and Europe living in the gravel on the banks of streams and rivers mostly in mountainous areas. It ranges from 2 to 3 mm long.
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Periophthalmus is a genus of bony fishes, allied to the gobies, whose members are sometimes called walking fish. The eyes can be protruded and retracted, and are furnished with eyelids. These fish haunt tidal estuaries, and use their muscular pectoral fins in skipping over the mud flats or in climbing about the roots of trees.
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Peripatus is a genus of arthropods which in external appearance resemble millipedes or caterpillars. The colouring is varied, but in life the skin has usually a velvety appearance. The head bears two long antennae, at the base of which the eyes are placed. The mouth is ventral, and contains two roofed jaws. At the sides of the mouth there are a pair of processes known as the oral papillae, from which slime oozes. The animals are equipped with between seventeen and forty-two walking legs, which are imperfectly jointed, and end in two small claws. There are numerous species found in South Africa, Australasia and the Malay Archipelago where they live among decaying wood and under stones feeding at night on insects and spiders caught in the slime they emit.
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Perissodactyla is an order of Eutheria. They are odd toed ungulates. Horses, tapirs and rhinoceroses. They eat vegetables and have a large caecum. The Stomach is simple.
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Peristeria is a genus of tropical orchids native to South America. They have fleshy pseudo-bulbs and racemes of showy flowers. The column appears dove- like, and has given rise to their popular name of dove flowers.
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Peritelus is a genus of polyphagous Snout Beetles (Curculionidae) that live on shrubs and herbaceous plants.
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Peritricha is an order of ciliata vera. They have a cone-shaped cell-body on a highly contractile stalk and a spiral of cilia leading to the cytostome.
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In zoology, the periwinkle is any marine snail of the family Littorinidae, found on the shores of Europe and eastern North America. Periwinkles have a conical spiral shell, and feed on algae.
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Pernettya is a genus of hardy, or nearly hardy, shrubs belonging to the family Ericaceae. They bear nodding flowers, either solitary or in racemes, the calyx being permanent and five-partite, and the corolla globose or urceolate. The fruit is a small berry.
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Peronospora is a genus of algal fungi, containing a number of species which are all parasitic as moulds on plants. The branched single-celled mycelium infests the tissues of higher plants, frequently causing death.
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Peroryctidae is a family of marsupials belonging to the order Peramelemorphia.
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Perotis is a genus of jewel beetle (Buprestidae), the larvae of which live in the roots of fruit trees.
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The Persian Arab is an ancient breed of Iranian (Persian) horse known to have existed at around 2000 BC. The Persian Arab is a spirited, quick and agile breed with enormous stamina and spirit, not suitable for inexperienced riders. The Persian Arab stands between 14.2 and 15.2 hands high, is grey, bay or chestnut in colour and holds its tail high and proud.
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The Persian cat is a breed of longhair cat, developed from Asian cats of nearly 4000 years ago that may or may not have originated in Persia. The large, round head supports small, rounded ears that sometimes appear almost lost in the thick fur; these forward-tilting ears are set wide apart and low on the head. The eyes, large, round, and widely spaced, are most often a brilliant colour, but in certain varieties may be hazel, green, or blue. The body is cobby - short, thickset, and muscular rather than flabby - and carried on short, sturdy legs that end in large, round paws. The tail is short. The dense, flowing coat, which forms a large ruff at the neck and frills between the front legs, may be of six different solid colours and a wide variety of patterns. Playful in a more subdued manner than many cats, the Persian has long been the most popular pet of the cat world.
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The Peruvian Stepping Horse or the Peruvian Paso, is a Peruvian breed of showy horse developed during the 16th century from Andalusian and Barb horses. They are a spirited, but quiet and good natured horse with great stamina and endurance, able to adapt to different climates with ease. The
Peruvian Stepping Horse stands between 14 and 15.2 hands high and is mostly chestnut or bay in colour, but can be any colour, with a showy mane and tail.
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Petasites is a genus of hardy herbaceous plants, generally with woolly leaves and stems, belonging to the family Compositae. They bear usually white or purple flower-heads.
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The Petrel is any of various families of seabirds, including the worldwide Storm Petrels (family Procellariidae), which include the smallest seabirds, and the Diving Petrels (family Pelecanoididae) of the southern hemisphere, which feed by diving underwater and are characterized by having nostril tubes. They include the Fulmars and Shearwaters.
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Peziza is a genus of ascomycetous fungi popularly called cup fungi from the shape of the fructification. Many of the species are brightly coloured.
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Phaedon is a genus of leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae) represented by four British species, all small metallic beetles with regular rows of punctures on their elytra.
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Phaenops is a genus of jewel beetle (Buprestidae).
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The Phaethontidae is a family of the Pelecaniformes. These are the tropic birds. They are the smallest member of the order. There are three species. They are about 60 centimetres long. They have two long central tail feathers.
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Phalacridae is a family of beetles of the order Coleoptera. The members of the family are small, have a shiny, convex body and are mostly found in flowers.
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Phalacrus is a genus of beetle of the family Phalacridae.
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Phalanger is a common name applied to marsupial mammals of the genus Trichosurus, family
Phalangeridae, found in Australia, Tasmania, the Solomon Islands, the Moluccas, and Celebes. Members of the family have been introduced into New Zealand. The head and body length ranges from 16 to 65 cm, the tail length from 17 to 61 centimetres. All the members of the family have five toes on each foot; each digit, except for the opposable innermost toe of the hind foot, has a large claw.
Phalangers are nocturnal, arboreal animals that feed chiefly on fruit and leaves. Some species also feed on nectar, insects, and, occasionally, small birds. The typical phalangers, or cuscuses, belong to the genus Phalanger. These animals have dense, woolly fur and long, prehensile tails. Most of them are large animals, about 60 centimetres long, not counting the tail.
They nest in hollow trees. The best-known species is the spotted cuscus, Phalanger maculatus, which is chiefly creamy white in colour, with spots of chestnut and black on the back, and with grey or reddish-brown legs.
The vulpine phalangers, also called brush-tailed possums, of the genus Trichosurus are characterized by fox like faces. Trichosurus vulpecula is grey above and yellowish below.
The ring-tailed phalangers, or ring-tailed possums, of the genus Pseudocheirus have curled tails that taper to a point. Unlike other phalangers, these animals, which are sometimes placed in a different family, do not nest in hollow trees but build shelters of twigs in the branches of trees or shrubs.
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Phalaris is a genus of grasses, mostly natives of southern Europe, bearing their inflorescences in spike-like panicles.
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Phalarope is any of a genus Phalaropus of small, elegant shore-birds in the sandpiper family (Scolopacidae). They have the habit of spinning in the water to stir up insect larvae. They are native to North America, Britain, and the polar regions of Europe. The male phalarope is courted by the female and hatches the eggs. The female is always larger and more colourful. The red-necked phalarope Phalaropus lobatus, grey Phalaropus fulicarius, and Wilson's phalarope Phalaropus tricolour can be found in North America.
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Phaleria is a genus of darkling beetles (Tenebrionidae) found in the vicinity of salt water where they live mainly on carrion.
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Phallus is a genus of gasteromycetous fungi.
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The Pharaoh Hound is a breed of Maltese hunting dog known from tomb paintings to have existed in ancient Egypt. It has a long head, large pricked ears, and a short red coat with small white markings on the muzzle, chest, toes, and tip of the tail. Wiry in build, it grows to about 56 centimetres. Dogs of the Pharaoh Hound type are thought to have been introduced into Europe in antiquity by Phoenician traders.
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The pharynx is a region of the alimentary canal following the buccal cavity.
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Phascologale is a genus of Australian and New Guinean marsupials, whose members are arboreal and insectivorous, and never exceed the size of a rat. They are closely related to the dasyures, but are self-coloured instead of spotted. The tail is always long and the pouch rudimentary and the number of young at birth large.
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Phasianidae is the Pheasant family of birds of the order Gallinae. They are characterized by the hind toe placed higher up than the others; the tarsus armed with a spur; the tail consisting of more than twelve feathers; the bill strong; the nostrils covered with a vaulted, smooth, naked horny scale; the head is more or less naked. The Phasianidae are birds of a large size, imposing aspect, and magnificent plumage, held in great esteem for their eating and domesticated since ancient times.
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Phasmida is the stick insect and leaf insect order of insects. The members are distributed throughout the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world, with the most species being found in south-east Asia and South America. Almost all of the members are nocturnal, and rely on camouflage for protection during the day, remaining motionless and imitating a stick or leaf.
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The pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) is a semi-domesticated ground nesting bird of the family Phasianidae, which lives in woods and thick covert. The nest is a hollow in the ground, lined with a little grass and leaves, and usually concealed in close covert or a hedge.
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Philodendron is a genus of topical American trees and shrubs, and occasionally herbaceous plants, belonging to the family Aroidaceae. They bear flowers with a thick yellow, white or red spathe, and a densely flowered spadix. The leaves are sheathed and coriaceous.
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Philonthus is a genus of rove beetles, Staphylinidae represented by 55 species in Britain found in decaying plant matter, compost, carrion, dung and fungi. They have a row of pores on either side of the midline of the pronotum.
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Phleum is a genus of hardy grasses, with long panicles of one-flowered spikelets, belonging to the family Gramineae.
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Phloeocharis is a genus of rove beetles, Staphylinidae, found under bark.
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Phloeonomus is a genus of rove beetles, Staphylinidae, mainly found under the bark of trees, especially conifers.
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Phloeophthorus is a genus of beetle of the family Scolytidae.
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Phloeopora is a genus of rove beetles, Staphylinidae, which live under bark.
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Phlox is a genus of hardy plants belonging to the family Polemoniaceae. They have salver-shaped corollas with five equal petals.
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Phocine is a zoological term pertaining to seals.
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The phoebe (Sayomis) is a genus of birds of the family Tyrannidae. The name is derived from the two-noted song of the eastern phoebe, Sayomis phoebe. It is about 18 centimetres long, with a blackish head, dark olive-brown back, and greyish to yellowish-white under parts. A hardy species, it is among the first birds to return to America in the spring. There are two western American species. Say's phoebe, Sayomis saya, breeds from Alaska to northern Mexico and winters from the south-western USA. to southern Mexico. It is about 20 centimetres long, and is coloured somewhat like a pale American robin. The widest-ranging is the aptly named black phoebe, Sayomis nigricans, which breeds from California to Argentina. Most phoebes adapt well to human presence, often nesting in farm buildings and under bridges.
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The Phoenix is a breed of chicken.
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The Phoenix moth (Eulithis punata) is a moth of the family Geometridae with a wing span of between 30 and 35 mm distributed throughout Europe, Asia and North America in the margins of deciduous forests and forest-steppes. They fly from June to September.
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Pholas is a genus of burrowing bivalve molluscs, also known as piddocks in parts of England where they are used as bait. The species are found within such rocks as shale, chalk, limestone and the like. Like all burrowing bivalves, they have gaping shells, which in this genus are pure white in colour, and have accessory plates of lime attached. The animal is furnished with long siphons, having fringed extremities, and during life these siphons are protruded from the burrows, so that water, containing food and oxygen, may pass in.
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Phormium is a genus of hardy herbaceous plants native to New Zealand, and belonging to the family Liliaceae.
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Phoronis is a Phylum phoronida.
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Phosphaenus is a rare European genus of glow-worm. Unusually the males have short rudimentary wings, but are flightless.
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Photosynthesis is the process by which plants convert carbon dioxide into carbohydrates by chlorophyll under the influence of light.
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Phylan is a genus of darkling beetles (Tenebrionidae) found on the coasts of northern and central Europe.
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Phyllanthus is a genus of mostly tropical plants belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae.
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Phyllidae is the leaf insect family of insects of the order Phasmida.
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Phyllobius is a genus of Snout Beetles (Curculionidae) represented by ten British species living on trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants.
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Phyllobrotica is a genus of leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae) that live in damp, shady locations.
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Phyllocactus is a genus of tropical, epiphytal shrubs belonging to the family Cactaceae. They mostly bear brightly-coloured flowers.
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Phyllodecta is a genus of leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae) represented by four British species with an elongate and only moderately domed body.
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Phyllodrepa is a genus of rove beetles, Staphylinidae, which live in nests and burrows.
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Phyllostachys is a genus of arborescent grasses, natives of China and Japan. They bear loose panicles of flower-spikes, and the stems are semi-erect. The species Phyllostachys nigra yields whangee canes.
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Phyllotreta is a genus of leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae) of the flea-beetles group.
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Phylloxera is any of a family (Phylloxeridae) of small plant-sucking insects of the order Homoptera that attack the leaves and roots of some plants. The species Phylloxera vitifolia, a native of North America, attacks grapevines, laying its eggs under the bark.
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The Phylum annelida are the segmented worms. They are triploblastic, metamerically segmented, coelomate metazoa. The body wall is covered by a glandular epidermis and comprised of longitudinal and circular muscles.
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Phylum Arthropoda is the arthropod group of invertebrate animals which includes; crayfish, lobsters, spiders, insects etc. They are metamerically segmented and bilaterally symmetrical animals. Typically, each segment has a pair of jointed appendages and at least one pair is modified as jaws. Arthropods are covered in a strong external exoskeleton produced from protein and chitin that is strengthened in places by phenol to form sclerotin. These external skeleton needs to be shed from time to time to allow the animal to grow. The animal crawls out of its old shell revealing the new shell in place. Air is then pumped into the body to expand it and stretch the new shell which then hardens and the muscles attach themselves to the new plates. While this process is taking place the animal is very vulnerable to predators.
Research Phylum Arthropoda
The Phylum brachiopoda are the lamp shells. They are triploblastic animals enclosed in a dorsal and a ventral shell resembling a Roman lamp, hence their popular name of 'lamp shell'. The anterior part of the body bears a horseshoe-shaped ridge covered in ciliated tentacles. The coelom is extensive and continued into the folds of the body wall below the shell and into the tentacles. A simple vascular system is present.
Research Phylum Brachiopoda
The Phylum chaetognatha are the arrow worms. They are relatively simple triploblastic animals. The body is elongated and transparent. The gut is just a straight tube. The body has three regions; head, trunk and tail. The head bears a hood and rows of chitinous hooks. There is no blood vascular system. Eyes are usually present. The male gonads are in the tail, the female ovaries in the trunk.
Research Phylum Chaetognatha
The Phylum chordata are a group of animals with a notochord present. The central nervous system is dorsal, hollow and tubular. They have a ventral heart and visceral clefts present in the pharynx.
Research Phylum Chordata
The Phylum echinodermata is a class or sub-kingdom of invertebrate animals characterized by having a tough integument in which lime is deposited in granules (as in the star-fish and sea-cucumber), or so as to form a rigid test or shell like that of the sea-urchin; and by the radial arrangement of many of the parts of the adult, though this is not necessarily carried out in the digestive and reproductive systems. They are provided with an apparatus for water circulation opening into the ambulacra or tubular feet, which are put into use by being distended with fluid. Some of them, as the encrinites or sea-lilies, are permanently fixed by a stalk when adult. Their development is accompanied with metamorphosis, and the embryo shows a distinctly bilateral aspect, though the radiate arrangement prevails in the adult. By some they are classed with the Scolecida in the sub-kingdom Annuloida. The sexes are distinct. The class is divided into seven orders : the Echinoidea (sea-urchins), Asteroidea (starfishes), Ophiuroidea (sand-stars and brittle-stars), Crinoidea (feather-stars, encrinites, etc), Cystidea (extinct), Blastoidea (extinct), and Holothuroidea (sea-cucumbers). All are marine.
Research Phylum Echinodermata
Phylum mollusca is the mollusc group of animals. They are coelomate animals which do not show segmentation. The body is comprised of a head, foot and visceral mass. The skin of the viscreal mass is extended into soft folds which form the mantle which often secretes a shell. The respiratory organs are usually a pair of ctenidia.
Research Phylum mollusca
Phylum nematoda are the roundworms. They are triploblastic animals with elongated, spindle-shaped bodies. A respiratory and blood vascular system are both lacking. The epidermis secretes a tough cuticle. Cilia are lacking. The roundworms are to be found everywhere that life can be supported.
Research Phylum nematoda
The Phylum phoronida are small marine gregarious zooids each enclosed in a membranous tube. They are triploblastic coelomate animals with a u shaped gut. Both the mouth and the anus are surrounded by a horseshoe-shaped ridge bearing numerous tentacles. The animals are hermaphrodite.
Research Phylum phoronida
Phylum platyhelminthes is the family of flatworms. These are triplobastic acoelomate animals. They are usually small and leaf-like shaped. The alimentary canal has a single aperture, the mouth. Nitrogenous excretion and osmo-regulation are carried out by a flame-bulb system. These animals have a complex reproductive system, which is usually hermaphrodite.
Research Phylum platyhelminthes
The Phylum polyzoa are small colonial animals usually resembling sea-weeds. They are mostly marine. The individuals of the colony are termed zooids and have a crown of ciliated tentacles.
Research Phylum polyzoa
Phylum Porifera is a sub-kingdom of animals in which the members are aquatic, sessile, multicellular and have a single body cavity - the gastric cavity.
Research Phylum Porifera
Phylum Protozoa are microscopic animals whose bodies are not divided into separate cells.
Research Phylum Protozoa
The Phylum Rotifera are minute triploblastic animals lacking a true coelom. The body is of variable shape and protected by a cuticle. The gut is complicated. A crown of cilia and a spiral, ciliated tract lies in front of the mouth. There are separate sexes.
Research Phylum Rotifera
Phymatodes is a genus of longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae) ranging from a few millimetres in length to seventeen millimetres in length.
Research Phymatodes
Physalia, the Portuguese Man-of-war, is a genus of siphonophora, whose members are frequently found floating at the surface in warm seas. They live in colonies, and have a large air-filled bladder on top and numerous hanging tentacles made up of feeding, stinging, and reproductive individuals. The float can be 30cm long.
Research Physalia
Physalis is a genus of herbaceous plants belonging to the family Solanaceae. They bear violet, white, yellow or purple flowers, the calyxes of which become inflated during the period of ripening the fruit. Within this inflated calyx is a globose berry, which in the Cape gooseberry species (Physalis peruviana edulis) is edible.
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The physic nut (Curcas purgans) is a bush or tree belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae, native to tropical America. It bears cymes of small greenish, bell-shaped flowers and yields a medicinal oil.
Research Physic Nut
Physiology is the study of animal's activities.
Research Physiology
Physostigma is a genus of climbing herbaceous plants belonging to the family Leguminosae.
Research Physostigma
Phytelephas is a genus of palms, of which the most important species is the vegetable ivory tree (Phytelephas macrocarpa).
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Phytobius is a genus of tiny Snout Beetles (Curculionidae) found on river banks and beside stagnant water.
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Phytodecta is a genus of leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae).
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Phytoecia is a genus of longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae) represented by a single British species having a cylindrical form and developing in the roots of plants.
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The phytomastigina are a plant-like sub-class of mastigophora.
Research Phytomastigina
Piatnitzkysaurus was a dinosaur of the Jurassic period. Remains of
Piatnitzkysaurus were found in Argentina during 1977 and the early 1980's and include a fairly complete skeleton though little is known of the skull.
Piatnitzkysaurus was a carnivore that walked on its hind legs, was about six metres tall, with powerful hind legs and short arms, and had long pointed teeth similar to Allosaurus and Ceratosaurus.
Research Piatnitzkysaurus
The pica or tailless hare (Lagomys) is a genus of small rodents related to the hares and rabbits. In appearance picas resemble guinea pigs, being about the same size, without an external tail, and with small ears. The limbs are short and subequal. Typically mountain forms, they are found in the Himalayas, and one species is found in North America and another in eastern Europe. Their diet consists of grasses and other plants.
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Picea (popularly known as the spruces) is a genus of hardy evergreen trees belonging to the family Coniferae. They bear monoecious flowers, and needle- shaped leaves, and more or less ovoid cones, the bracts of which do not fall away at maturity. Among the species are the White Spruce (Picea alba) a native of Canada, the Black Spruce (Picea nigra) grown in north America for the manufacture of paper pulp and the Norway Spruce (Picea excelsa), grown for timber.
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The pichiciago (Chlamydophorus truncatus) is a species of armadillo. The head and body are covered by a dorsal shield made of four-sided horny plates, beneath which lie thin plates of bone. The shield is only attached along the median line of the back, and is free at the sides. The posterior end of the body is abruptly truncated, and is protected by a strong, vertical, bony shield covered with horny plates, through a hole in which the tail passes out. It is a burrowing animal about 14 centimetres long, and inhabits the western part or Argentina.
Research Pichiciago
Pidonia is a genus of longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae).
Research Pidonia
The Pie-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) is a small diving bird of the order Podicipediformes, family Podicipedidae. It is brown to grey in colour with a chunky body, short neck; with a short, stubby bill with black ring near its tip. It is a migrant and permanent resident in ponds, lakes and in coastal lagoons of southern California.
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The pied wagtail (Motacilla lugubris) is a common British species of Motacilla. It feeds on the ground and runs swiftly.
Research Pied Wagtail
Pieridae is the whites and sulphurs or yellows family of butterflies, containing some 1500 species mostly white or yellow in colour. They are mostly medium sized butterflies with convex-shaped inner borders to the hind wings. The different sexes usually differ in colour and the caterpillars are often thickly covered with short hair, and their body narrowed at both ends. The pupae, similar to the Swallowtails, are suspended head upwards and secured with a silk girdle.
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The pig (hog) is a hoofed woodland mammal of the genus Sus, of the suidae family. The head is prolonged into a pointed snout. The feet have four toes. The skin is very thick and covered with stiff bristles.
Pigs are very alert, co-operative and inquisitive animals, in the wild found in forests, particularly Beech forests, where they dig around in the forest litter with their sensitive snout. Domesticated pigs will co-operate, with piglets organising structured raiding parties, with lookouts, on stocks of foodstuffs given the opportunity. Pigs communicate, both with each other and with other animals. While not aggressive, adult pigs will defend themelves against perceived threats, but will issue warning grunts before attacking.
Research Pig
Pig-nut (Carya glabra) is a hickory tree.
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The pigeon is a general term for birds of the Columbidae family.
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The pike (Esox lucius) is a voracious fresh water fish. The body is narrow and elongated, reaching a length of 120 centimetres. The head is long, broad and depressed. The pike is devoid of scales and barbells, and has the lower jaw extending beyond the upper. The rest of the body is covered by cycloid scales, and terminates in a forked tail-fin.
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The pilchard is any of various small, oily members of the herring family, Clupeidae, especially the commercial 'sardine' of Europe (Sardina pilchardus), and the California sardine (Sardinops sagax).
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The pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) is a large, black and white American woodpecker with a prominent red crest.
Research Pileated woodpecker
A pileus is the umbrella-shaped head of a mushroom or toadstool, having on its under surface the spore-bearing gills.
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The Pilgrim is a breed of goose.
Research Pilgrim
Pilocarpus is a genus of tropical American and West Indian shrubs belonging to the family Rutaceae. They bear simple spikes or racemes of green or purple flowers, with usually five lanceolate petals.
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The Pilot Whale (Globiocephalus melas) is a cetacean which reaches about six metres in length and occurs commonly round the Faroe Islands and off the north of Scotland. They are gregarious animals and live mainly on cuttle- fish.
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The pilotfish (Naucrates ductor) is a small marine fish of the family Carangidae, which also includes pompanos. It hides below sharks, turtles, or boats, using the shade as a base from which to prey on smaller fish. It is found in all warm oceans and grows to about 36 centimetres.
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Pimelea is a genus of Australian trees, shrubs and occasionally herbs, belonging to the family Thymelaceae.
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Pimento is a genus of tropical American trees belonging to the family Myrtaceae. They bear cymes of small flowers and coriaceous leaves.
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Pimpernel (Anagallis) is a genus of plants belonging to the family Primulaceae. The flowers have a calyx composed of five distinct sepals and a wheel-shaped corolla.
Research Pimpernel
Pinacosaurus was a dinosaur of the Cretaceous period. Remains of Pinacosaurus were discovered in Mongolia during the 1920's and reveal an armoured animal, about five metres long related to Ankylosaurus, with a parrot-like beak and very small teeth.
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The Pindos or Thessalonian Pony is an ancient breed of Greek pony. They stand 13 hands high, are mostly bay, black, dark brown or dark grey in colour and are incredibly hardy and enduring. They are difficult to train, difficult and stubborn and not the most elegant of ponies but are very strong and with a strong constitution and good climbing skills making a very functional pony.
Research Pindos
The pine is a genus of hardy evergreen trees of the family Coniferae from which turpentine, tar and pitch are derived.
Research Pine
The Pine Beauty (Panolis flammea) is a moth of the family Noctuidae with a wing span of between 30 and 33 mm widespread in non-polar Europe and Asia. A single generation flies from April to May.
Research Pine Beauty
The Pine Hawkmoth (Hyloicus pinastri) is a moth of the family Sphingidae with a wing span of between 65 and 80 mm found in Europe and northern Asia in coniferous forests flying from May to July, and occasionally a second generation in August.
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The pine marten (Martes martes) is a rich brown coloured marten with a creamy yellow throat bib. They live in forests where they nest in dens in the ground, and travel through the treetops. They feed principally on field voles, and also on bank voles, small mice, rabbits and, during August and September, honey raided from bumblebee nests. They also eat squirrels and carrion, adapting to what's available.
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The Pine Resin-Gall Moth (Petrova resinella) is a moth of the family Tortricidae with a wing span of between 16 and 21 mm found in Europe and Siberia flying from May to June.
Research Pine Resin-Gall Moth
The pine sawfly (Diprion pini) is an insect of the family Diprionidae. Super-family Tenthredinoidea, sub-order Symphata, order Hymenoptera, found in Eurasia and North Africa. They are between 7 and 10mm long and live in pine woods, preferring younger, diseased trees on poor soil. Either one or two generations appear a year, flying from June to July for a single generation or the first generation flying from April to May and the second generation from July to August. Pine sawflies are hunted by various insects, beetles and also woodpeckers, tits and cuckoos.
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The Pine-shoot Moth (Rhyacionia buoliana) is a moth of the family Tortricidae with a wing span of between 16 and 20 mm found in Europe, Asia, North America and South America wherever pine trees grow. It flies from June to August.
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The Pine-tree Lappet (Dendrolimus pini) is a moth of the family Lasiocampidae with a wing span of between 45 and 70 mm found in the temperate Palaearctic, with the exception of Britain, southern Europe and north Africa. A single generation flies from June to August.
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The pineapple (Ananas sativa) is a plant of the family Bromeliaceae, native to south and central America but cultivated in many warmer climates. The fruit was introduced into England in the 17th century.
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Pineappleweed (Chamomilla suaveolens) or rayless mayweed as it is also known is an annual herb of the family Compositae with an erect, much branched glabrous stem with many finely divided (two or three times pinnate) alternate leaves. The solitary terminal flowerheads have hollow, conical receptacles and greenish-yellow, four-lobed tubular disc-florets. Unlike scented mayweed it has no ray-florets. Pineappleweed was introduced into Europe from America during the 19th century and quickly established itself as a common weed.
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Pinguicula is a genus of bog-loving herbaceous plants belonging to the family Lentibulariaceae. They usually bear a rosette of greasy-feeling radical leaves, and flowers borne singularly on erect flower-stalks.
Research Pinguicula
The Pink-barred Sallow (Xanthia togata) is a moth of the family Noctuidae with a wing span of between 27 and 30 mm found in the temperate parts of the Palaearctic sub region and in North America. A single generation is produced each year flying from August until October.
Research Pink-Barred Sallow
Pinna is a genus of bivalve molluscs, whose members are allied to the mussels. The shell is wedge-shaped, and consists of two equal valves. In some species it reaches a length of 60 centimetres. The animals live embedded in sand, with the narrow end of the shell downwards.
Research Pinna
In botany, the term pinnate is applied to compound leaves with three or more pairs of leaflets arranged in two opposite rows along a common stalk.
Research Pinnate
The pinnated grouse or prairie hen (Tetrao cupido) is a north American bird much prized as a food. The neck of the male is furnished with tufts of eighteen feathers and two loose pendulous wrinkled skins which resemble an orange on inflation.
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Pinniped describes members of the order Pinnipedia, that is the walruses and seals.
Research Pinniped
Pinnipedia is an order of mammals. All pinnipeds have many aquatic adaptations, including the presence of blubber, a large body, streamlining and oily fur. They are tied to the sea for food, but must give birth on land. The members all have well developed eyes, no collar bone, and short stout forelimbs.
Research Pinnipedia
The pintail or sea pheasant (Dafila acuta) is a widespread duck. It is easily recognised by the elongation of the central tail feathers in the male. The drake has a brown head and neck, the neck having a white stripe at each side. The under surface is white, the back mottled grey. The tail is black. The female is greyish in colour with brown markings.
Research Pintail
Pinto is a horse colouring, often black and white (known in Britain as piebald) or brown and white or other colours, and not a breed of horse as such, although they often resemble Spanish horses in appearance. The American Indians prized pinto horses for their colouring.
Research Pinto
The Pinzgauer is a breed of cattle.
Research Pinzgauer
Pipa is a genus of aquatic tongueless toad of the order Aglossa. The head is depressed and triangular in shape; the skin is covered with small tubercles; the digits on the fore limb are slender, and free from one another, and furnished with star-shaped processes at the tip, while those on the hind limbs are broadly webbed. The genus is peculiar for the habit which the female possesses of carrying the eggs until they hatch in little pockets in the skin of her back. As the eggs are laid they are spread out over the back, the male assisting the process; each egg then sinks into a pouch of the epidermis, which is subsequently closed by a lid. From these skin pockets emerge the young after about three months, and then resemble the parents except in size, the gilled tadpole stage being omitted from the life history.
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The Pipe Vine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) is an American Swallowtail butterfly found in the eastern and southern USA. The colouring is basically dark brown enhanced by rows of creamy white spots, the hind wings and abdomen are bordered with a blue-green gloss. The underside of the hind wings has red-orange dots and is edged with black and white half-moon spots.
Research Pipe Vine Swallowtail
Piperaceae is a family of herbs and shrubs of wide geographical distribution. They bear small flowers, usually without perianth, followed by small capsular or baccate fruit.
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The Piping crow or Australian Magpie (Gymnorhina) is a genus of Passerine birds, sometimes placed in the crow family and sometimes with the shrikes. The colouring is black and white, and the birds have a clear ringing cry. There are three species confined to Australia and Tasmania. In captivity they can be taught to whistle tunes and to speak.
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The pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) is the smallest British bat, the span being only 20 centimetres. The ears are widely separated, longer than broad, and the external edge is definitely, though not deeply, notched and ends just behind the angle of the mouth. The tragus is bluntly pointed and its hind edge is rounded. The inner upper incisor is bifid, and the first upper premolar though smaller than the other teeth, is not so extremely minute in comparison with them as in the genus Nyctalus. The fur is long and extends on to both sides of the wing and on to the back of the interfemoral membrane; on the underside of the latter it is usually restricted to the neighbourhood of the tail and thighs. The colour of the fur varies from dark to light, almost reddish, brown; and the under side is slightly lighter. The colour is, however, subject to much individual variation. The pipistrelle occurs all over temperate Europe and extends far into Asia, probably to China; a closely allied subspecies inhabits eastern North America. In the British
Isles it is the commonest bat everywhere both in country and town, and extends from the south of England to the north of Scotland, the Orkneys and Shetlands, and from the West of Ireland to East Anglia.
Pipistrelles live in large or small colonies, or sometimes singly, hiding by day in cracks and crevices in buildings, cliffs and trees, behind loose bark and under ivy stems, but rarely in caves. Where the accommodation is big enough the colonies are often of large size and may contain several hundred bats, especially in summer. The bats emerge about dusk, coming out from crowded roosts in small parties which break up on taking to the wing.
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Pipit (Anthus) is a large genus of Passerine birds, most nearly related to the wagtails, but presenting some superficial resemblance to the larks, with they are sometimes confused. The colouration is always sober, the bill and legs slender, the bill notched at the tip.
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Pippin was a term originally given to any apple raised from pips and not from grafts. Gradually the term can to be applied to brightly-coloured keeping apples, such as Cox's Orange Pippin.
Research Pippin
The piranha is a South American freshwater fish of the genus Serrusalmus, in the same order as cichlids. They can grow to 60cm long, and have razor-sharp teeth; some species may rapidly devour animals, especially if attracted by blood.
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Pisaura is a genus of hunting spider. Pisaura mirabilis is a common and widespread British species found in hedgerows, woodland and grassland where it actively hunts its prey on the ground without using a web.
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Pisces is the fish class of vertebrates.
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Pissodes is a genus of Snout Beetles (Curculionidae). The larvae live beneath the bark of various conifers and pupate in the wood just under the bark in a silken cocoon. The larvae are a serious pest to forests, damaging the trees.
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The pistachio (Pistacia vera) is a deciduous tree native to Syria growing to about six metres in height, and bearing in spring brownish-green flowers, followed by ovate, reddish fruit, with bright green kernels (pistachio nuts) that taste not unlike sweet almonds.
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Pistacia is a genus of small hardy trees belonging to the family Anacardiaceae, and mostly natives of the Mediterranean countries. They bear panicles or racemes of small apetalous, dioecious flowers; the succeeding fruits are one-seeded, dry drupes.
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A pistil is an ovule-bearing or seed-bearing female organ of a flower, consisting of the ovary, style and stigma.
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Pistillate is a botanical term for flowers with have a pistil or pistils but no stamen.
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The Pistol Case-bearer (Coleophora anatipennella) is a moth of the family Coleophoridae with a wing span of between 12 and 16 mm found in Britain, Europe and the Middle East flying from June to July.
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Pit is the collective noun for a group of snakes.
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Pitcairnia is a genus of tropical American herbs, with a few shrubs, mostly without stems, and bearing their leaves in a crowded rosette. The genus is a subdivision of the family Bromeliaceae. The flowers are generally reddish or white, the three large lanceolate sepals being adnate to the base of the ovary, and the three lingulate petals being about twice as long as the sepals. The inflorescence is generally a raceme.
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The pitcher plant is the name of various insectivorous New World bog plants of the genera Sarracenia, Darlingtonia, Nepenthes and Heliamphora. They have tubular or trumpet-shaped leaves containing a liquid in which insects are trapped.
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The pith or medulla is the central cellular part of the stem of a flowering plant.
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Pithecolobium is a genus of tropical trees and shrubs belonging to the family Leguminosae. They bear flowers with usually white, more or less tubular corollas, followed by curiously twisted pods.
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The pitta is a genus of tropical songless bird of order Passeriformes, genus
Pitta, forming the family Pillidae. Some 20 species are native to south east Asia, west Africa, and Australia. They have round bodies, big heads, and are often brightly coloured. They live on the ground and in low undergrowth, and can run from danger.
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Pitying is the collective noun for a group of turtle doves.
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Pityophagus is a genus of sap-beetle (Nitidulidae).
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The term placoid fishes is sometimes used to describe the elasmobranchs on account of the nature of their scales.
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Placusa is a genus of rove beetles, Staphylinidae, found under bark.
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Plagiodera is a genus of leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae).
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Plagionotus is a genus of longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae) similar in appearance to the Clytus genus, but more robust and grow to 20 mm long.
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Plagiostomata is a name sometimes used instead of elasmobranch to designate cartilaginous fishes, such as the shark and ray.
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Plaice is any of various flatfishes of the flounder group, especially the genera Pleuronectes and Hippoglossoides.
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The Plain Clay (Eugnorisma depuncta) is a moth of the family Noctuidae found in northern and central Europe and western Asia. The Plain Clay has a wing span measuring from 30 to 35 mm and lives in grassy woodlands and upland meadows, flying from July to August.
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The Plains Garter Snake is an American species of Garter snake occurring in olive-green, brown, reddish, or greenish-grey colour with a pale mid-dorsal stripe and a dull white, yellowish or greenish-grey belly with a series of regular longitudinal spots.
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Planaria is a member of the order tricladida.
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Plankton is minute plant and animal organisms found in water. It is a source of food for many fish and whales.
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A plant is a living organism which does not have the ability to move, and does not have sensory organs or digestive organs.
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Plantaginaceae is a family of flowering plants, all herbaceous in character, and for the most part natives of temperate regions. They bear regular flowers, usually in elongated spikes. The calyx and corolla are each four- partite; the petals being usually chaffy; and there are four stamens, with very long, thread-like filaments.
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Plantain or Plantago is a genus of herbaceous plants belonging to the family Plantaginaceae.
The name plantain is also applied to a tropical plant similar to the banana of the family Musaceae.
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In zoology, the term plantigrade refers to walking with the entire sole of the foot touching the ground, as for example do man and bears.
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Plasmodium is a genus of parasitic animals of the suborder haemosporidia. They cause malaria in man.
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A plastron is a ventral shield, the lower part of the horny shell of reptiles such as the tortoise.
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Platambus is a genus of predacious diving beetles of the family Dytiscidae.
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Platanus is a genus of trees belonging to the family Plantanaceae. The genus includes the Oriental plane (Platanus orientalis), the London plane (Platanus acerifolia).
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Plateosaurus was a dinosaur of the Triassic period. Plateosaurus was about eight metres long with strong hind legs and shorter arms furnished with broad hands with a large curved thumb claw. Plateosaurus had a long neck and tail and a long, light skull with small leaf-shaped teeth, suggesting a herbivore.
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Platycerium is a genus of mostly tropical ferns, commonly known as stag- horn ferns on account of their curiously forked fronds.
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Platycerus is a genus of small stag beetles (Lucanidae).
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Platycis is a European genus of net-winged beetles of the family Lycidae, ranging from five to ten millimetres in length.
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Platypodidae is a family of beetles of the order Coleoptera, related to the bark beetles (Scolytidae) .
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Platypsyllus is a genus of small beetles of the family Leptinidae. There is only one species,
Platypsyllus castoris - the Beaver Beetle, which lives in the fur of beavers where it feeds on the parasitic mites.
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The platyrrhina are a suborder of Anthropoidea. The nostrils face forwards. The internasal septum is broad and they have three premolars. The tail may be prehensile.
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Platysoma is a genus of beetles of the family Histeridae, found in Europe but not Britain. They have wide tibia with a toothed outer edge, and deep S- shaped grooves on the first pair of tibiae. Both the larvae and the adults feed on bark beetles and fly larvae under bark.
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Platystethus is a genus of rove beetles, Staphylinidae, most of the species having two distinct spines on the head of the adult males. They live mostly in dung and on muddy river banks.
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Platystomos is a genus of beetle of the family Anthribidae, reaching twelve millimetres in length, found on beech and alder stumps.
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Plectophloeus is a genus of light reddish brown coloured beetles of the family Pselaphidae.
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Plegaderus is a genus of tiny beetles of the family Histeridae. They live beneath bark in rotten wood and feed on the larvae of bark beetles.
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Plesiosaurus was a genus of long-necked Plesiosaur. Plesiosaurus was a marine reptile (very similar to a dinosaur, and libing at the same time but in the sea) that lived during the Mesozoic Period. It had a long neck, short tail, small head and four paddle-like limbs. Remains of a Plesiosaurus have been found in a quarry at Harbury in Warwickshire, England.
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Pleurobrachia is a member of the sub-Phylum ctenophora family.
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Pleurophorus is a genus of dung beetle of the family Scarabaeidae found chiefly under cow dung and decaying vegetation.
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The Pleven is a Bulgarian breed of riding and competition horse developed since 1898 from Arabian Horse mares and local Russian stallions and later Gidran stallions, the breed being recognised in 1951. The Pleven stands between 15.2 and 16 hands high and is chestnut in colour with natural carriage and presence and a natural jumping ability.
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Plica is a diseased state of plants characterised by the excessive development of small entangled twigs, instead of ordinary branches.
In zoology, plica refers to the bend of a bird's wing.
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Plover is a general name for birds of the sub-family Charadridae. The typical plovers belong to the genus Charadrius.
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The plum is a genus of hardy trees bearing the fruit of the same name.
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Plumbago is a genus of plants belonging to the family Plumbaginaceae.
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The Plumed Prominent (Ptilophora plumigera) is a moth of the family Notodontidae with a wing span of between 32 and 40 mm found in deciduous and mixed forests across Europe and Asia flying in October and November.
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Plump is the collective noun for a group of woodcock.
Plump is the collective noun for a group of wildfowl.
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The Plymouth Rock is a breed of chicken.
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Poa is a genus of hardy grasses, with panicles of awnless many-flowered spikelets.
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Pocadius is a genus of sap-beetle (Nitidulidae), the adults of which live in puff-balls.
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The pochard are various diving ducks found in Europe and North America, especially the genus Aythya.
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Pod is the collective noun for a group of peas.
Pod is the collective noun for a group of whiting.
Pod is the collective noun for a group of whales.
Pod is the collective noun for a group of seals.
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Podabrus is a genus of soldier beetle (Cantharidae) found mainly in mountainous regions.
Research Podabrus
Podiceps (Grebe) is a genus of birds of the family Colymbidae characterized by a straight conical bill, no tail, a short tarsus, flattened toes which are separate but broadly fringed at their edges by a firm membrane and legs set so far back that on land the Grebe adopts the upright stance of a penguin. They are excellent swimmers and feed on small fish, frogs, crustaceans and insects.
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The Podicipediformes are an order of birds. These are the Grebes. They are water birds. They don't have webbed feet, instead each toe is fringed separately. They build floating nests directly on the water.
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Podistra is a genus of soldier beetle (Cantharidae).
Research Podistra
Podocarpus is a large genus of evergreen trees of the pine family. They are chiefly natives of tropical countries and bear succulent leaves and fruit. They yield excellent timber, especially the
Podocarpus totana of New Zealand and the Podocarpus cupressina of Java.
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Podophyllum is a genus of hardy herbaceous perennial plants belonging to the family Berberidaceae. They bear solitary, nodding, white flowers, followed by indehiscent berries.
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Poecilonota is a rare genus of jewel beetle (Buprestidae).
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The pogge or armed bullhead (Agonus cataphractus) is a small British fish characterized by an angular head and body and an armature of bony plates. It is related to the bullhead, and is sometimes eaten.
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Pogonocherus is a genus of longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae) represented by three scarce British species. The British species all have tufts of black hair on their elytra.
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Pogonus is a genus of beetles of the ground beetle family, Carabidae. They are found in Britain and Europe and north Africa and are from 5 to 9 mm long and live near the sea or on salty ground inland.
Pogonus luridipennis has a yellowish brown elytra, other species are generally a uniform metallic greenish colour.
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Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) is a plant of the spurge family native to Mexico and Central America. It has variously lobed leaves and brilliant scarlet, pink or white petal-like bracts.
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The Pointer is a breed of short haired hunting dog, descended from a Spanish breed crossed with the foxhound, trained to point game - locate game and stand still indicating the location. The breed originates from around the start of the 18th century, and although essentially a working dog can settle in the home if given plenty of exercise.
Research Pointer
Poison ivy also known as poison oak and poison vine (Rhus radicans) is a vine or shrub of the family Anacardiaceae, having trifoliate leaves and whitish berries. It causes severe dermatitis when touched by people sensitive to it.
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The Poison oak (Rhus Toxicodendron) is a very poisonous American tree of the family Anacardiaceae.
Research Poison Oak
The Poitevin or Mulassier is a French breed of heavy horse, renowned for being bad tempered, uncooperative, unattractive and poor workers. They do however produce excellent mules, and it is for this that they are bred. The Poitevin stands 16 hands high, is dun, grey, bay, black or palomino in colour and has coarse feathering to the legs. Poitevin mares are bred with Baudet de Poitou donkeys to produce Poitevin mules which are strong, tough, enduring and with a good disposition.
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The Poland is a breed of chicken.
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The Poland China is a breed of domestic pig which originated in Poland and China.
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The Polar bear (Thalarctos maritmus) is a large white bear - almost as large as the giant brown bears - found in arctic regions around the north pole where they live on the ice floes of the open ocean and feed on seals.
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The polecat is an Old World weasel (Mustela putorius) with a brown back and dark belly and two yellow face patches. The body is about 50cm long and it has a strong smell from anal gland secretions. It is native to Asia, Europe, and north Africa.
Research Polecat
Polemoniaceae is a family of herbaceous plants whose flowers usually have five-cleft calyxes, five-lobed regular corollas, five stamens, and a three- celled ovary. The pollen is usually more or less blue in colour.
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The pollack is a marine fish (Pollachius virens or Gadus pollachius) of the cod family valued for food and as a source of oil. It grows to a length of 75 cm, and is of a greenish colour with a dark spot near the pectoral fin and no barbels. The pollack is found close to the shore on both sides of the north Atlantic, being found off the coasts of Cronwall and Devon in Britain, Norway and North America.
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The pollan (Coregonus pollan) is a fresh-water fish of the family Salmonidae, found in the Irish lakes.
Research Pollan
The Polled Hereford is a breed of cattle.
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The Polled Welsh Black is a breed of cattle.
Research Polled Welsh Black
Pollen is the male element of flowering plants, generally occurring in single grains, which vary greatly in form, size and colour. Pollen is formed in the part of the stamen known as the anther, and is shed when it is ripe.
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The Pollen Beetle (Meligethes aeneus) is a sap-beetle (Nitidulidae). They are so named after the larvae habit of eating pollen, and are also a pest of crops such as oilseed rape where they also nibble the flowers causing damage to the plant.
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Pollination is the supplying of the fertilizing pollen to the stigma of a flower.
Research Pollination
The polychaeta are the bristle worms. They are a class of marine Phylum annelida with obvious segmentation. The head usually bears tentacles and palps.
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The polycladida is a marine order of Turbellaria. The gut has numerous caeca which ramify through the body. Numerous simple eyes are usually present.
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Polydrusus is a genus of Snout Beetles (Curculionidae) represented by eleven British species.
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Polygalaceae is a family of plants, usually with milky juice, especially in their roots.
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Polygonaceae is a family of herbaceous plants, characterised by the presence of an ochrea - a membranous sheath enclosing the stem at each of the joints, and bearing spikes or panicles of small flowers, often unisexual.
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Polygonatum is a genus of plants belonging to the family Liliaceae characterized by the flowers having six-cleft corollas, and by the fruit being berries. Polygonatum multiflorum is the Solomon's Seal, which occurs native in Britain.
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The polygordius are archiannelida.
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Polygraphus is a genus of beetle of the family Scolytidae that breeds behind the bark of coniferous trees.
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Polymastigina are an order of Zoomastigina. They are flagellates with four or more flagella.
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Polyplacophora is an order of the Amphineura class of molluscs.
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Polypodium is a genus of ferns, generally with sori on the back of the lobes. The genus includes some of the most handsome ferns.
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Polypody (Polypodium vulgare) is a perennial fern of the family Polypodiaceae, common to Britain and Europe. It has a creeping, slightly flattened, branched rhizome, which bears numerous red-brown scales. Every year new fronds rise alongside the old ones. The fronds are simple, long- stalked, smooth and pinnately divided with lanceolate segments, rounded at the tip. Clusters of spore cases are arranged in two rows on the undersides of the upper segments, coloured orange at first and then later brown.
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Polyporaceae is a family of fungi that become corky or woody with age, often forming shell-like growths on trees.
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Polyporus is a genus of hymenomycetous fungi with over a hundred British species. They for a type of the family Polyporae in which the hymenium, or spore-bearing surface, lines the interior of closely-packed tubes on the under side of the pileus. The species are chiefly found growing on trees and stumps, with only a few species living on the ground, and many are stalkless.
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Polypterus is a genus of fish with just one species, the bichir.
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Polystoma is a member of the family Monogenea.
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Polytrichum is a genus containing numerous species of acrocarpus mosses with a rigid habit.
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Polyzoa is a group of mainly colonial marine and fresh-water animals, and although the individual animals are small the colonies are very large.
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Pomaceae is a tribe of flowering plants belonging to the family Rosaceae, which bear spurious fruits surmounted by calyxes.
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Pome is the name given to a form of indehiscent fruit in which the epicarp and mesocarp, together with the calyx, form a fleshy mass, the endocarp forming scaly-walled cells enclosing the seeds. The apple and pear are examples.
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The pomegranate (Punica granatum) is a shrub or small tree native to south west Asia which bears a chambered, many seeded globose fruit with a tough, usually red rind and surmounted by a crown of calyx lobes.
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The pomeranian or spitz dog, is a breed of toy dog, about 15 centimetres high, weighing about 3 kg. It has long straight hair with a neck frill, and the tail is carried over the back. The breed attained popularity in Britain after Queen Victoria kept one as a pet. A sturdy, alert and good-tempered breed of dog they do have a tendency to bark at the slightest sound.
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Pompiloidea is a super-family of insects of the sub-order Apocrita, order Hymenoptera. The members are mostly black in colour with a red or yellow coloured part of the abdomen. The female excavates underground cavities for the larvae to grow in, and feeds them paralysed spiders.
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Pond weed (Potamogeton) is a genus of aquatic herbaceous plants belonging to the family Naiadaceae. They bear spikes of small olive-green flowers containing four sepals, four stamens, and four carpels.
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The Poney Mousseye is a breed of small Cameroon pony, standing up to 12 hands high and occurring in various colours, but mostly grey. They have great stamina and endurance and are unusually resistant to the sleeping sickness spread by the tsetse fly that also lives around the river Logone. The Poney Mousseye is a placid, good natured and gentle pony good for riding.
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A pony is a small horse less than 14.2 hands tall.
Research Pony
The Pony of the Americas is a new American breed of pony developed during the 1950s from an Appaloosa mare and a Shetland Pony stallion. The breed was further refined with Welsh and Arab stock and is a popular and versatile children's pony with a good nature. They stand between 11 and 14 hands high and have a spotted coat.
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The poodle is a breed of gun dog, including the standard poodle (above 38 centimetres at the shoulder), the miniature poodle (below 38 cm), and the toy poodle (below 28 cm) varieties. The dense curly coat, usually cut into an elaborate style, is often either black or white, although greys and browns are also bred. The poodle probably originated in Russia, was naturalized in Germany, where it was used for retrieving ducks and gained its name and became a luxury dog in France. They were first known in Britain during the 17th century.
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Poophagus is a genus of Snout Beetles (Curculionidae) that live on bog plants growing beside water, often watercress.
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Poplar is a popular name for hardy deciduous trees of the genus Populus belonging to the family Salicinaceae. They are fast growing trees characterised by their columnar pattern of growth.
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The Poplar Admiral (Limenitis populi) is a species of butterfly of the brush- footed butterflies (Nymphalidae) family, found in deciduous forests in lowlands and mountain valleys across Europe from France to Japan.
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The Poplar Hawkmoth (Laothoe populi) is a moth of the family Sphingidae with a wing span of between 65 and 90 mm found in Europe and Western Asia flying from May to August in one or two generations.
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The Poplar Kitten (Furcula bifida) is a puss moth of the family Notodontidae with a wing span of between 35 and 45 mm found in Europe and Asia flying from April to July.
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The Poplar Lutestring (Tethea or) is a moth of the family Thyatiridae with a wing pan of between 35 and 42 mm found in the forest zone of Europe and Asia. Two generations are produced, flying from April to August.
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The Poplar sawfly (Trichiocampus viminalis) is an insect of the Typical Sawflies family, Tenthredinidae of the super-family Tenthredinoidea, sub-order Symphyta, order Hymenoptera. The Poplar Sawfly is about 9 mm long and flies during May and is often found in avenues of Poplar trees.
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The Poppy (Papaver) is a genus of hardy plants of the family Papaveraceae, with showy, usually red, but also yellow and white flowers.
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The poppy anemone (Anemone coronaria) is a south European plant of the buttercup family with tuberous roots and a solitary, poppy-like red, blue or white flower.
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The porbeagle (Lamna cornubica) is a shark occurring in the North Atlantic and which frequently strays into British coastal waters. The second anal and dorsal fin are both small, the lower lobe of the tail is well developed, and the sides have a prominent longitudinal keel. The gill openings are wide and the spiracle minute. The shark reaches a length of three metres and feeds chiefly on fish. The teeth are lanceolate.
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A porcupine is any rodent with quills on its body, belonging to either of two families: Old World porcupines (Hystricidae) are terrestrial in habit and have long black-and-white quills. This family includes the genus Hystrix; or New World porcupines (Erethizontidae) which are tree-dwelling, with prehensile tails and much shorter quills.
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Porhydrus is a genus of predacious diving beetles of the family Dytiscidae. One species, Porhydrus linearus, is found in Britain. It is about 3 mm long with a very finely granular elytra between the punctures.
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Poroshora is a member of the Gregarinida order.
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A porpoise is any small whale of the family Delphinidae that, unlike dolphins, have blunt snouts without beaks. Common porpoises of the genus Phocaena can grow to 1.8 metres long; they feed on fish and crustaceans.
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The Portland Moth (Ochropleura praecox) is a local and rather rare moth of the family Noctuidae found in sandy regions throughout Europe and Asia where its single generation flies from July to September.
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The Portuguese water dog is a breed of medium-sized dog with a profuse black or brown coat and webbed feet. They were bred to assist Portuguese fishermen.
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Portulaceae is a family of shrubs and herbaceous plants with succulent stems and leaves and irregular flowers usually with two sepals, five petals, three or more stamens, and a one-celled ovary.
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Pot marigold (Calendula officinalis) is an annual herb of the family Compositae, grown in gardens since the Middle Ages for its bright orange or yellow single or double flowers, which are decorative from summer to autumn. The basal leaves are spatulate and stalked, the stem leaves lanceolate, alternate and sessile. All parts of the plant are roughly hairy. The terminal and solitary flowerheads have sterile, tubular disc-florets and fertile, ligulate, spreading ray-florets. The fruit is a rough curved achene.
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Potamonectes is a genus of predacious diving beetles of the family Dytiscidae. Four species occur in Britain. They are densely punctured dorsally and have black stripes down their yellow to yellowish-red coloured elytra.
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The potato (Solanum tuberosum) is a perennial plant of the family Solanaceae. It has angular herbaceous stems, and grows to about 80 centimetres tall. The leaves are pinnate, the flowers pretty, large, numerous and disposed in corymbs, and coloured violet, bluish, reddish or whitish. The fruit is globular, about the size of a gooseberry, reddish-brown or purplish when ripe, and contains numerous small seeds. The tubers which are eaten are abnormally dilated underground shoots, their increase in size being the result of cultivation. Their true nature is revealed by the 'eyes' which are leaf buds, and if a tuber is planted in the ground a young plant will sprout, the starchy matter of the tuber supplying nutriment until it throws out roots and leaves and so attains an independent existence. The potato is a native of western South America, where it grows wild chiefly around the Andes, producing small, tasteless, watery tubers.
The potato was first introduced into Europe by the Spaniards after the conquest of Peru, by whom it was spread over the Netherlands, Burgundy, and Italy before the middle of the 16th century. Sir Hohn Hawkins, Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh are all credited with introducing the potato to England in 1565. Although the potato was widely cultivated in Europe, it was first grown for food on a large scale by the Irish and during the 18th century became a popular food with the poorer classes in Germany.
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The potato fly (Anthomyia tuberosa) is an insect found chiefly in diseased potatoes. The adult resembles the house fly in appearance, the larva is maggot-like and is furnished with bristles.
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Potentilla (commonly known as Cinquefoil) is a genus of herbaceous perennials of the family Rosaceae, found chiefly in the temperate and cold regions of the northern hemisphere, containing about 120 species. They are tall or procumbent herbs, rarely under shrubs, with digitate or unequally pinnate leaves, and for the most part yellow or white flowers. several species are British.
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Poterium is a genus of plants of the family Rosaceae and sub-family Sanguisorbidae.
Research Poterium
The potto is an arboreal, nocturnal, African prosimian primate Perodicticus
potto belonging to the loris family. It has a thick body, strong limbs, and grasping feet and hands, and grows to 40cm long, with horny spines along its backbone, which it uses in self-defence. It climbs slowly, and eats insects, snails, fruit, and leaves.
Research Potto
The pouched mouse, pocket mouse or kangaroo rat (Dipodomys) is a genus of North American rodents belonging to the family Geomyidae, and characterized by the elongated tail and hind limbs, the slender form, and the presence of large cheek pouches.
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The pouter is a variety of fancy pigeon with a very projecting breast.
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The powan is a fish found in Loch Lomond, Scotland. It is of the same genus as the polland and the vendace. Also known as the fresh-water herring.
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The Powder-post Beetles are the Lyctidae family of insects of the order Coleoptera. The females lay their eggs in cracks in wood with the aid of their very long ovipositors. The larvae eat dry sap-wood and destroy it in the same way as the Death-watch beetle. The common powder-post beetle (Lyctus brunneus) is a serious pest of seasoned wood and is found chiefly in wood-yards, carpenter's workshops and houses.
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The Powdered Quaker (Orthosia gracilis) is a moth of the family Noctuidae with a wing span of between 35 and 40 mm flying from April to June.
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The Prairie Dog is a burrowing rodent of the genus Cynomys found in North American prairies.
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Prasocuris is a genus of leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae) often found on umbelliferous plants standing in or beside water.
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Prawn is a name given to several shrimp-like, stalk-eyed decapod crustaceans of the family Palaemonidae, some of which are used as food. The British prawn (Leander serratus) is common on the British coasts, particularly where there are submerged rocks in shallow water. The British prawn is about ten centimetres in length, and clad in a translucent, jointed shell of a greenish-grey colour which turns red when the prawn is cooked. The carapace, which covers the combined head and thorax, is extended forwards in a long sword-like rostrum, strongly toothed on its upper and lower edges. There are two pairs of antennae, the inner pair each bearing three long lashes, and the outer pair each with a single lash extending back far beyond the broad tail fan. Both pairs of legs are armed with pincers. The prawn swims through the water by means of six pairs of swimming feet (pleopods) situated under the hind body; and can dart back suddenly when threatened by spreading the tail and flexing the hind body. The British prawn feeds upon the small green seaweeds and the entomostraca that frequent them.
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The Pretty Chalk Carpet (Melanthia procellata) is a moth of the family Geometridae with a wing span of between 27 and 32 mm found in central and southern Europe, Asia Minor and southern Asia. Two generations are produced flying from May to September.
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The Pretty Marbled Moth (Lithacodia deceptoria) is a moth of the family Noctuidae with a wing span of between 20 and 22 mm found in Europe and Asia. A single generation flies from May to July.
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The Pretty Pinion (Perizoma blandiata) is a moth of the family Geometridae with a wing span of between 15 and 18 mm found in northern and central Europe, Asia Minor and Asia flying from May to August.
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Pria is a genus of sap-beetle (Nitidulidae). The larvae develop in deadly nightshade.
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Prickly Ash is a name given to several prickly shrubs of the USA, genus Xanthoxylum, family Rutaceae. They have an aromatic and pungent bark which is used as a remedy for toothache, giving rise to the name of toothache- tree.
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Prickly Pear or Indian fig (Opuntia vulgaris or Opuntia Ficus-Indica) is a fleshy and succulent plant of the family Cactaceae, destitute of leaves, covered with clusters of spines and consisting of flattened joints inserted upon each other. The fruit is purplish in colour, covered with fine prickles and edible. The flower is large and yellow. It is a native of the tropical parts America from where it has been introduced into Europe, Syria and China. It is easily propagated, and is sometimes used as a hedge plant. It attains a height of about 190 centimetres.
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Pride is the collective noun for a group of lions.
Research Pride
Primate is the family of mammals that includes humans, apes, monkeys, lemurs bushbabies, lorises and tarsiers. Primates have complete, but unspecialised dentition. A large and complex brain. The eyes are well developed and directed forwards, with the orbit being closed behind by the union of the frontal and jugal bones. They are generally arboreal animals, with a single chamber uterus producing few offspring which require parental care for a long time after birth.
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The primrose (Primula) is a genus of mostly hardy herbaceous plants belonging to the family Primulaceae. They bear flowers with a tubular or bell-shaped calyx and an infundibuliform or salver-shaped corolla.
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Primulaceae is a family of herbaceous plants, mostly inhabitants of the cooler parts of the world. They bear flowers usually with a five-cleft calyx, five petals, five stamens, a one-celled ovary, one style, and a capitate stigma.
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Priobium is a genus of beetle of the family Anobiidae.
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Prionus is a genus of longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), between two and four centimetres in length.
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Prionychus is a genus of nocturnal beetle of the family Alleculidae.
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Pristonychus (formerly known as Laemostenus) is a genus of beetles of the ground beetle family, Carabidae, often found under stones, in cellars, stables and other dark places.
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Privet (Ligustrum) is a genus of hardy shrubs and small trees of the family Oleaceae. They bear terminal panicles of white flowers, followed by berries. The common privet (Ligustrum vulgare) is a native of Europe growing to two metres high. The leaves are ellipticolanceolate, entire and smooth. The flowers are slightly odorous, white at first but soon changing to a reddish- brown. The berries are dark purple, approaching black in colour.
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The Privet Hawkmoth (Sphinx ligustri) is a moth of the family Sphingidae with a wing span of between 90 and 120 mm distributed throughout the Palaearctic flying from May to July.
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The proboscidea are an order of Eutheria. They are large animals of the ungulate type. The two upper incisors are modified to form tusks. Canines and Premolars are lacking.
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The Proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus) is a monkey nearly related to the langur, but entirely confined to the island of Borneo. The peculiarity of the species is the great elongation of the nose of the adult male which reaches the proportions of a proboscis. In the female and young males this peculiarity is much less marked.
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The Procellariiformes are an order of birds. These are the tube-nosed swimmers. They are sea birds of about 100 species. They have a horn sheathed bill, tubular nostrils and webbed feet.
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Procerus is a genus of beetles of the family Carabidae, found mainly in south-east Europe and the Near East, though one species, the black coloured
Procerus gigas extends into Austria where it stalks its prey - chiefly edible snails - by night, and sometimes by day, and has a lifespan of some three years.
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Procompsognathus was a dinosaur of the Triassic period. It was a small carnivore about 120 centimetres long that walked on its hind legs. It had a small head with large eyes and pointed, curved teeth.
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Proctotrupoidea is a super-family of insects of the sub order Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera. They are tiny, ranging from 0.5 mm to 4 mm long and the larvae are parasitic on various insects.
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Prokaryote or procaryote is the biological term for an organism in which the genetic material is not enclosed in a cell nucleus. Bacteria are
prokaryotes. It is believed that eukaryotic cells probably evolved as symbiotic associations of prokaryotes.
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The pronghorn, prong buck or prong horn antelope (Antilocapra americana) is a ruminant mammal constituting the family Antilocapridae, native to the west USA. It is not a true antelope. It is light brown and stands about one metre high. It sheds its horns annually and can reach speeds of 100 kph.
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Prosaurolophus was a dinosaur of the Cretaceous period. It was a large, duck-billed dinosaur, about eight metres long. The head of Prosaurolophus was low, and had a small crest running from the tip of the snout.
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Prosternon is a genus of click beetle (Elateridae) characterised by whorled patterns of pubescence on the elytra and pronotum.
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Proteaceae is a family of mostly trees and shrubs which occur principally in Australasia and South Africa.
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Proteinus is a genus of rove beetles, Staphylinidae, represented by five species in Britain, which live on fungi and carrion.
Research Proteinus
Protoceratops was a dinosaur of the Cretaceous period. Remains of Protoceratops were first discovered in Mongolia in 1922 and these remains included complete nests of eggs with skeletons of young and old. The adult Protoceratops was 180 centimetres long, walked on all fours, had a pointed beak and a small neck frill. Unlike later related dinosaurs, Protoceratops was devoid of horns but had thickened bony areas on top of the snout and above the eyes.
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Protococcus is a genus of single-celled Algae. The British species Protococcus viridis forms a yellowish-green stratum on trees, damp walls and shallow pools.
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Protomonadina are an order of zoomastigina. They are small colourless flagellates. In the trypanosomes is a single flagellum.
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Protoplasm is the basic living substance of all animals, rather than the dead substances such as found in nails and hair. It is responsible for carrying out all the vital activities characteristic of living animals.
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Protopterus is a genus of dipnoid fish, containing one species, Protopterus annectans, found in the rivers of tropical Africa, burying themselves in the mud when the rivers dry up during droughts.
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The Protozoa are a division of primitive animals consisting of a single cell.
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Prunella or self-heal is a genus of hardy, perennial herbs of the family Labiate. They bear white or purplish flowers.
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Prunus is a genus of hardy trees and shrubs belonging to the family Rosaceae. They bear racemes or corymbs of white or pink flowers with deciduous sepals, five petals, and numerous stamens. The fruit is a fleshy berry containing a one-seeded stone.
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Przewalski's Horse (the Asiatic Wild Horse) is a breed of wild horse of China and Mongolia, the last sighting of a wild Przewalski was in 1968 in the Gobi desert, since then they have become extinct in the wild but have been maintained in zoos and in 2006 were reintroduced to Mongolia, though from a small group of about twelve horses captured in the wild and then bred in captivity.
Przewalski's Horse stands 13 hands high and is sand dun coloured with a lighter belly and muzzle and dark points and often zebra stripes. The mane is coarse and stands upright. They are a wild breed, temperamental, stubborn, aggressive and difficult to train.
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Psammodius is a genus of small dung beetle of the family Scarabaeidae with a domed body that widens towards the rear and a pronotum that bears a series of transverse ridges and grooves.
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Psammoecus is a genus of beetle of the family Cucujidae.
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Pselaphidae is a family of very small beetles, ranging from 0.9 to 3.5 mm in length. Their elytra are usually very short, like the rove beetles but the abdomen is less flexible than a rove beetle. The eyes are composed of relatively few, but large ommatidia. Members of the family chiefly eat mites and live in decaying vegetation, in humus and in moss, and many species in ants' nests.
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Pselaphus is a genus of beetles of the family Pselaphidae. They have long maxillary palps, whose terminal segment has a claviform tip and is covered with spines and hairs.
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Pseudopodia are temporary projections from the cell of a Protozoan, leucocyte, etc., used for feeding and locomotion.
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Pseudoptilinus is a genus of beetle of the family Anobiidae, formerly included in the genus Ptilinus, but differing in the shorter processes on the males' antennae and the longitudinal groove in the midline of the pronotum. They develop in fallen lime tree branches.
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Psidium is a genus of tropical shrubs and trees belonging to the family Myrtaceae. They bear usually cymes of rather large flowers with more or less bell-shaped corollas. The fruit is a globose or ovoid berry.
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Psittacosaurus was a dinosaur of the Cretaceous period. Psittacosaurus was about two metres long with long hind legs and short arms, indicating it walked on its hind legs like Iguanodon, and had a horny beak, large short snout, a deep jaw and a small frill at the back of the head. One species of Psittacosaurus also had a small horn on its snout. Remains of Psittacosaurus were first discovered in 1922 in Mongolia.
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Psoralea is a genus of shrubby and herbaceous plants belonging to the family Leguminosae. They usually have compound leaves and heads of racemes or spikes of blue, red or white flowers.
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Psychidae is the bagworms family of moths, insects of the order Lepidoptera.
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Psyllobora is a genus of ladybird (Coccinellidae) that feeds on mildew.
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The ptarmigan is a Scottish bird of the Tetraonidae family, similar to the grouse. It is essentially a mountain form, feeding on shoots and berries, and unlike many of its allies, is monogamous. The most interesting point about it is the striking seasonal variation of the plumage, which exhibits a marked resemblance to the surroundings. In the colder parts of its range both sexes become white in winter, with the exception of the outer tail feathers, which are black in both sexes, and a black patch in front of the eye in the male. The summer plumage of the male is blackish brown with grey and reddish markings; the greater part of the wings, the median tail feathers, and the abdomen retaining the winter white. The female is reddish, barred with black. In autumn the back becomes greyish.
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Ptenidium is a genus of featherwing beetles, Ptiliidae. The head and pronotum are usually dark brown or black, while the elytra are often a lighter brown colour.
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Pteranodon was a dinosaur of the family Pteranodontidae, of the mid to late Cretaceous period. A pterosaur (flying dinosaur) remains have been found in Kansas, North America. There wera number of species, Pteranodon ingens had a wing span of seven meters, Pteranodon sternbergi was larger. Pteranodon is distinguished by a large crest upon the back of the head, a short neck and powerful but short cervical vertebrae. The jaws were long, pointed and toothless. It is generally thought that Pteranodon fed on fish.
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Pteris is a genus of ferns which includes a large number of species widely distributed over the tropics and temperate regions of the world.
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Pterodactylus was a dinosaur of the family Pterodactylidae, of the late Jurassic period. Remains of Pterodactylus have been found in Europe and East Africa, but only rarely. There were various species of Pterodactylus with wing spans up to about 50 cm - with one species reaching a wing span of 250 cm, and all characterised by a short tail consisting of a few small caudal vertebrae, and having a long, elongated beak. It is likely that Pterodactylus fed on insects and small fish.
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Pteroloma is a genus of beetles of the carrion beetle, Silphidae, family.
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Pterophoridae is the plume moths family of insects of the order Lepidoptera.
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Pteropoda is a class of molluscs (Phylum mollusca) in which the anterior lobes of the foot are developed in the form of broad, thin, wing-like organs, with which the animals swim at, or near, the surface of the sea. The
Pteropoda are divided into two orders: Cymnosomata, which have the body entirely naked and the head distinct from the wings; and Thecosomata, which have a delicate transparent shell of various forms, and the head not distinct from the wings.
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Pterospermum is a genus of tropical Asiatic shrubs and trees belonging to the family Sterculiaceae. They bear thick leaves and long flowers, usually with five sepals and five petals.
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Pterostichus is a genus of beetles of the ground beetle family, Carabidae, varying in size between 4 and 22 mm. Most species are dark in colour, often black, though some are metallic. Twenty-two species of the genus occur in Britain. One species, Pterostichus melanarius (formerly known as
Pterostichus vulgaris) is a completely black species which feeds mainly on caterpillars but also seeds and can be a pest of strawberries.
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Pterygota is a two (some say three) division subclass of Insecta, all members of which undergo metamorphosis, whether slight and incomplete or pronounced and complete. In the first division (Hemimetabola) are the cockroaches, locusts, earwigs, lice, termites etc. In the second division (Holometabola) are the members which undergo a pronounced and complete metamorphosis; the butterflies, moths, beetles, ants, bees, wasps, fleas, gnats and meat-flies etc.
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Pteryx is a genus of featherwing beetles, Ptiliidae, occurring in two forms: one is darker in colour with well developed wings and large eyes; the other is lighter, wingless and has smaller eyes. Both forms live in rotting wood and under bark.
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Ptiliidae is the featherwing beetles family of insects of the order Coleoptera. The family contains the smallest known beetles, some measuring 0.5 mm in length. The members of the family all have wings made up of a narrow central strap fringed with long hairs to augment their surface area. Both the larvae and adults feed on fungal spores.
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Ptilinus is a genus of beetle of the family Anobiidae, ranging from three to six millimetres in length.
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Ptiliolum is a genus of featherwing beetles, Ptiliidae, found in decaying plant material and excrement.
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Ptilium is a genus of featherwing beetles, Ptiliidae, recognisable by three longitudinal grooves on the pronotum.
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Ptinella is a genus of featherwing beetles, Ptiliidae, characterised by a remarkable dimorphism in the adult stage. One form of the adult is full- winged and has well developed eyes, while the other form is wingless and eyeless. They live in rotting wood and under bark.
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Ptinus is a genus of Spider Beetle (Ptinidae). Unusually the male and female differ in both shape and colouration, the male being slimmer and less rounded than the female.
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Ptomaphagus is a genus of beetles of the family Catopidae. they live chiefly in the burrows and nests of small rodents and on cadavers.
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Ptosima is a genus of jewel beetle (Buprestidae). The larvae live in various plants of the family Rosaceae, chiefly fruit trees.
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Puccinia is a genus of rust fungi, with numerous species.
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The Pudu are two species of very rare and endangered South American deer of the family Cervidae. The two species of Pudu are the southern pudu (Pudu puda) found in the dense temperate rain forests of the Andes of Chile and Aregntina, which is the world's smallest species of deer and the northern pudu (Pudu mephistophiles) found in the Andes of Ecuador, Peru and Columbia.
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The Pueblan Milk Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum campbelli) is a Mexican species of Milk snake named after Jonathan A Campbell. The Pueblan Milk Snake is distinguished by a distinctly mottled snout of white markings forming a vague horseshoe shape upon a black background.
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The puff-adder (Bitis arietans) is a highly-poisonous African snake found in dry and sandy places, which reaches a length of one metre or more. It is structurally related to the viper, and is yellowish to orange brown above, with black markings, and whitish below. It gets its popular name from its habit of inflating the body when alarmed, and at the same time producing a characteristic puffing sound. The puff-adder is a sluggish animal, and only bites when actually attacked. The natural food consists of small mammals, and the habits are nocturnal.
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The puff-ball (Lycoperdon) is a genus of gasteromycetous fungi, several species of which are found in Britain. When they first appear they are masses of solid nearly homogenous, white flesh; but as they grow older the white colour gives way to brown and the solid mass is replaced by a dry and shrivelled rind or casing containing within the spores as a fine brown powder.
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The puff-bird is a South American form related to the jacamar, which gets its English name from the puffy appearance of the soft feathers on the head. The usual colours are black, brown or rufous, with some white markings. The bill is short and stout, with a hooked tip.
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The puffer fish is a fish of the family Tetraodontidae. As a means of defence it inflates its body with air or water until it becomes spherical and the skin spines become erect. Puffer fish are mainly found in warm waters, where they feed on molluscs, crustaceans, and coral.
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The Puffin or Sea Parrot (Fratercula arctica) is a sea bird of the Auks family, Alcidae, found in the north Atlantic. It is a thickset bird with a curious brightly coloured striped bill which feeds on fish which it catches by diving and swimming underwater.
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The Pug is a breed of small, short haired dog, standing about 28 centimetres high, with a tightly curled tail and a deeply wrinkled face. It is believed that Pugs were brought to Europe from China by employees of the Dutch East India Company where they received Royal patronage in Holland and were adopted as the symbol of the House of Orange. They came to England in 1689 with William of Orange. Pugs are a friendly and easy to care for breed of dog, but have a tendency to put on excess weight.
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The Puli is a Hungarian bred of sheep dog, traditionally black in colour but also occurring in grey and standing about 45 centimetres tall. The Puli is a loyal and intelligent breed.
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The puma (Felis concolor) is a large wild cat found in the Americas where it is often also called a panther, painter, cougar and catamount. Next to the jaguar, the puma is the largest American cat, and once ranged from New England and British Columbia to Patagonia. In the adult the upper surface is a uniform tawny colour, except for a dark streak along the middle of the back, and a dark tip to the tail, while the under surface is of a paler tint. he presence in the young, however, of a ringed tail and of spots on the body shows that the puma's ancestors possessed characteristically feline colouration.
Pumas vary greatly in size, sometimes reaching 2.5 metres from nose to the tip of the tail, the tail being usually about a metre long, but usually the body is about a metre long. The puma lives in low-lying plains and on mountain slopes both in forests and in treeless pampas where it feeds on larger animals, typically horses, sheep, deer, larger rodents, birds, rats, mice and fish.
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Pump is the collective noun for a group of ducks in flight.
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The pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) is a trailing plant of the gourd genus with heart shaped five lobed leaves.
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Punnet is the collective noun for a group of strawberries.
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Pup is the name for a baby dog.
Pup is the name for a baby shark.
Pup is the name for a baby wolf.
Pup is the name for a baby seal.
Pup is the name for a baby rat.
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The Purple Bar (Cosmorhoe ocellata) is a moth of the family Geometridae with a wing span of between 20 and 25 mm found in Europe and Asia. Two generations are produced flying from May to September.
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The Purple Clay (Diarsia brunnea) is a moth of the family Noctuidae distributed in northern and central Europe across Asia. It has a wing span measuring about 36 mm and produces a single generation that flies from June to August.
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The Purple Cloud (Actinotia polyodon) is a moth of the family Noctuidae with a wing span of between 23 and 30 mm found in the Palaearctic producing one or two generations flying from May to August.
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The Purple Emperor (Apatura iris) is a species of butterfly of the brush-footed butterflies (Nymphalidae) family, noted for its iridescent, metallic, violet-blue sheen which occurs on the wings of the male. It is found in damp, deciduous forests in the vicinity of streams, rivers and ponds where it settles on tree foliage overhanging the water.
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The Purple Hairstreak (Quercusia quercus) is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae found in Europe and the Near East in oak forests. The butterflies fly in the tree tops from July to August and feed upon honeydew, the caterpillar feeds upon oak leaves.
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The Purple Thorn (Selenia tetralunaria) is a moth of the family Geometridae with a wing span of between 30 and 38 mm found in Europe and Asia flying in two generations from April to August.
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The Purple Treble-bar (Aplocera praeformata) is a moth of the family Geometridae with a wing span of between 33 and 38 mm found in the mountains of temperate Europe flying from June to August.
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The Purple-Edged Copper (Palaeochrysophanus hippothoe) is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae found in most of Europe, but absent from the warmest parts and the British Isles. The butterflies live in damp and peaty meadows and by springs and streams. The caterpillar lives on sorrel and bistort. A single generation is produced in a year and flies from May to July.
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The Purple-shaded Gem (Euchalcia variabilis) is a rare moth of the family Noctuidae with a wing span of between 33 and 38 mm found in northern and central Europe flying from May to July.
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The Purple-Shot Copper (Heodes alciphron) is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae widespread from western Europe to the Middle East, but absent from northern Europe. It may be found in dry flowery meadows where the caterpillar lives on sorrel and hibernates.
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Purpura is a genus of carnivorous gastropods, whose members, like the species of Murex, yield a purple dye. The species have strong, heavy shells and mostly live on rocky coasts.
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Purpuricens is a genus of longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae).
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The Purse-Web Spider (Atypus affinis) is a species of British spider. The spider lives inside a subterranean silken tube a small part of which lies on the surface of the soil. When an insect walks over the tube the spider rushes up the tube, upside down, sinks its fans into the prey, devours it and then repairs the tube.
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The Puss Moth (Cerura vinula) is a puss moth of the family Notodontidae with a wing span of between 45 and 70 mm found in the temperate Palaearctic in damp biotopes, flying from April to July.
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Putchock is the root of Aplotaxis Lappa, a composite plant growing on the Himalayas in the vicinity of Cashmere. In China it forms the main ingredient of incense sticks, in Upper India it is used as a medicine for various ills ranging from coughs to cholera.
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Puya is a genus of tropical South American herbaceous plants belonging to the family Bromeliaceae. They bear usually racemes of showy flowers.
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Pycnogonidea or Pantopoda (the sea-spiders) are a group of marine arthropods. They are spider-like organisms, having four well-developed walking legs, often of great length. The body consists of an unsegmented proboscis, a trunk of four segments, and an unsegmented abdomen. Gills are absent and there are typically three appendages in front of the legs, the first a small pair of chelate limbs, then two pairs of slender appendages.
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Pycnota is a genus of rove beetles, Staphylinidae closely resembling the genus Atheta. They live mainly in moles' nests and occasionally in birds' nests.
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The pygmy shrew (Sorex minutus) is a bi-coloured shrew, with a gradation between the flanks and underside and no seasonal variation in colouration. It is distinguished from the common shrew by the third uni-cuspid tooth as large as, or larger than, the second; the ears almost, or completely hidden in fur; the tail hairs denser and longer than those of the Common Shrew and so the tail appearing thicker. The pygmy shrew lives in areas with good ground cover, such as heaths, grasslands, sand dunes, woodland edge, but is uncommon in woodland, feeding on invertebrates found in leaf litter (mostly beetles, spiders and woodlice but not earthworms). The nest is a small ball of grass in dense cover.
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The pygmy white-toothed shrew, or Savi's pygmy shrew or Etruscan shrew (Suncus etruscus) is a minute South European shrew recognisable by Four uni-cuspid teeth; white teeth; large, protuberant ears; long hairs scattered through the pelage, especially on the tail and snout; greyish brown black pale grey underside from the neck to the abdomen. The animals live in open terrain, grassland, scrub, gardens, and deciduous woodland being found under logs and boulders and frequently in dry stone walls and ruins and eat invertebrates up to the size of grasshoppers. Social animals, they form pairs during the breeding season and tolerate juveniles for a long time in the nest. The breeding season is between March and April and September and October.
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The Pyrenean Desman (Galemys pyrenaicus) is a very rare European mammal found only in the Pyrenees. It has thick-set, round body, short neck and a long proboscis-like snout. The large hind-feet are edged with stiff bristles, and the long tail is flattened at the end like a rudder. The forefeet are partly webbed, the hind feet webbed which aids in its swimming. The soft, dense, water-proof fur is dark brown or black above and grey or tan below. The Pyrenean Desman lives beside swift-flowing, cold mountain streams and canals but is very sensitive to human disturbance and pollution, and will not live near signs of human activity. It builds a nest of dry grass and leaves in the river side in natural holes, vacated water vole burrows and enlarged crevices.
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The Pyrenean Mountain Dog or Great Pyrenees is a large shepherd dog bred from mastiff stock in the Pyrenees to guard sheep against wolves and later used to smuggle contraband across the mountains. The Pyrenean Mountain Dog stands about 70 centimetres tall, has a thick, shaggy coat generally white in colour, and is good-natured though wary of strangers.
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Pyrenomycetes is a family of ascomycetous fungi with flask-like fructifications. open at the top for the discharge of the spores. Some species are parasitic on plants, others on insect larvae, while several species are saprophytes.
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Pyrethrum is a genus of herbaceous composite plants, the distinctive features of which are that the pappus consists of an elevated membranous border, and the achenes are angular but not winged.
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Pyrochroa is a genus of Cardinal Beetle (Pyrochroidae) ranging from fourteen to eighteen millimetres long.
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Pyrrhidium is a genus of longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae).
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Pyrus is a genus of ornamental and fruit trees belonging to the pomeous section of the family of Rosaceae.
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Pythidae is a family of beetles of the order Coleoptera. Many of the members are classified in the family Salpingidae by some authors. Both adults and larvae live under the bark of trees or in the passage of bark beetles and prey on other insects.
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The Pythonia (Python) is a subfamily of reptiles of the family Boidae, suborder Serpentes (snakes). The subfamily consists of six genera and twenty-two species found in tropical Africa, Asia and the Australias.
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In botany, a pyxidium is a capsule with a lid, as seen in the henbane and in the fruit of the monkey-pot tree.
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