Adapt – To change the way an
animal is made or acts in order to survive, eat and reproduce successfully in a
new or changing habitat. Animals are said to be adapted to their habitats when
they can do all these things successfully, but the animals may become
endangered if habitats change faster than they can adapt.
Alpha – The first letter of
the Greek alphabet. In biology, scientists call the leader or dominant member
of certain social animal groups the “alpha” member. Often the term is applied
to the leader’s primary mate as well. For example, the leader of a wolf pack is
the “alpha male” and his mate is the alpha female. Generally, in canid packs,
only the alpha male and female actually have puppies at any given time, while other
pack members (usually relatives of the alpha pair) assist in puppy care. One of
the ironies of foolish attempts to kill off predators is that killing the alpha
member or pair results in other members starting to breed prolifically and thus
often increases the population of the predator.
Anthropomorphism – The habit of
intepreting animal behavior in terms of human ideas and feelings, i.e., of
attributing human traits to animals. Anthropomorphism has long been frowned on
by scientists. However, research is proving that animals and humans do share
many mental processes and emotions. The important thing to understand is that
this is because humans and animals are all adapted to the same planet and thus
share certain common (not "human") traits, both physical and
mental/emotional. However, it is important to base comparisons of human and
animal thoughts and feelings on scientific research and not on a mere
assumption that animals are "like us." They may be, but that must be
shown, not assumed.
Crepuscular
– Active
at dusk and/or dawn.
Diurnal – Active in the
daytime.
Endangered – In danger. This word
is used for types of plants and animals (species) that people need to protect
or else they may become extinct, which means that all of them will die and
we'll never see them on Earth again.
Environment – Everything around us,
especially used for our natural surroundings such as land, water, air, plants
and animals but also used for our human surroundings such as farms, cities and
even the people we live and work with.
Extinct
– This
word means all the members of a certain type of plant or animal have died and
there are none left on Earth.
Flock – A group of birds that
live and fly together at least temporarily.
Herd – A group of
plant-eating animals that live and move around together to find food and water,
used of deer, cattle, antelopes, horses and such.
Matriarch – A female leader. In
some animal groups, such as elephants, herds are run by a matriarch, generally
the oldest, or strongest, or wisest female. Such herds are called matriarchal.
In some cases, such as hyenas, the female leader dominates the males as well as
other females. In
elephants,
the mature males go off by themselves or in bachelor groups except at breeding
time and the herds consist of just the matriarch, her female relatives
(sisters, daughters, etc.) and their immature young of both sexes.
Nocturnal – Active at night.
Pack – A group of
meat-eating animals that live together and hunt together, such as wolves; a
pack is usually sort of permanent, like a family.
Pollination – The process of
transferring pollen from a male flower or flower parts to the female flower or
flower parts, which fertilizes the female flower so that it can make seeds.
Many animals help pollinate flowers, including bats and birds as well as
insects such as bees and butterflies.
School
– A
group of fish that swim together at least temporarily.
Solitary
–
Alone. Used for animals like tigers that generally stay by themselves except
when breeding.