Fish/Amphibians
Despite its name, it is the largest fish in the world, with record sizes reaching over 60 feet.
What is a whale shark?
This family of birds is considered to be the smallest in the world, is the only species that can fly backwards and cannot walk despite having legs.
What is a hummingbird?
This is the pigment inside plants that allows them to photosynthesize. It also is responsible for making leaves look green.
What is chlorophyll?
The second of three main divisions in insects, crustaceans and extinct trilobites. This is the part of the body that the legs and wings are attached to.
What is the thorax?
A form of visualizing the environment, used commonly by mammals such as bats, dolphins and whales.
What is echolocation?
This is one of the most common greenhouse gases - the other two including carbon dioxide and methane.
What is water vapor?
A well camouflaged fish that is considered to be the most venomous fish in the world.
What is a reef stonefish?
The study of birds, bird nests and bird eggs.
What is ornithology?
This is one of the products created during photosynthesis, the other being oxygen.
What is glucose/sugar?
What are spinnerets?
The term used to describe an animal that relies on the internal generation of heat to maintain a steady body temperature, called homeothermy. This is one of the qualifying conditions required to be considered a mammal.
What is endothermic?
These are white, puffy, low-level clouds with flat bases. They are commonly considered "fair weather" clouds.
What are cumulus clouds?
A marine fish that is considered the fastest fish in the world, reaching top speeds of up to 70 miles per hour.
What are sailfish?
What are theropods/theropoda?
This is the word for the upper part of deciduous trees that is covered with leaves.
What is the crown?
This insect was the first insect to ever be sent by humans to space. It is a common insect that most people consider a pest due to their role in decomposition.
What are fruit flies?
This is one of the only two mammals that lay eggs, the other being a platypus.
What is an echidna?
A major environmental problem experienced everywhere in the United States (including Point au Roche). It is the result of excessive phosphorous and nitrogen being carried into bodies of water from farm fertilizers and feeding the algae that live in that water.
What are Harmful Algae Blooms (HABs)?
This is the name for the large visible ear drum on either side of a frog's head.
What is a tympanum?
A mating practice common amongst some bird species where a female will mate with multiple different males during the breeding season to increase the gene pool.
What is polyandry?
This is the dead, central part of the tree trunk that is darker in color and usually aromatic. It helps keep the tree tall and straight.
What is heartwood?
This is the molecular process that causes water molecules to loosely attract to each other that allows insects like water striders to "walk" on water.
What is surface tension?
The name for any mammal with two successive sets of teeth, with one growing in after they are born and then another set replacing those.
The scale used to rate the damage and speed of a tornado, ranked F-0 through F-5.
What is the Fujita scale?
What are caecilians?
The only venomous bird on the planet, found in New Guinea and related to the oriole.
What is a Hooded Pitohui?
This is the study of tree rings, which allows scientists to both age the tree and map the history of the climate through its lifetime.
What is dendrochronology?
This common arachnid is considered the oldest living arachnid, since it can be traced back up to 570 million years ago - much older than any land vertebrate. It is seen as a pest to humans because of their tendency to bite.
What are mites?
This is the scientific name for placental mammals, meaning they use a placenta to transfer nutrients to their fetus while it develops in utero.
What are eutheria?
A dry area on the leeward side of a mountain, caused by the mountain blocking rain-producing weather systems to create a dry environment.
What are rain shadows?