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  • Zonaeginthus pictus (bird)
    ...may be red, orange, or black. The star finch (Neochmia ruficauda) is greenish brown above and yellow below, with white-dotted red head, greenish gray breast, and white-barred red tail. The painted finch (Emblema, formerly Zonaeginthus, pictus) is red and brown, with white-spotted black underparts....
  • zonal cavity method (engineering)
    Mathematical models can accurately predict the performance of lighting in most applications. The zonal cavity method, which takes into account the lamps, fixtures, shape of room, and colours of room surfaces, is one example. The usual measure of light intensity is in footcandles on a horizontal surface, such as the floor of a room or a desk. The intensity ranges from 15 footcandles for a......
  • zonal easterlies (air current)
    persistent wind that blows westward and toward the Equator from the subtropical high-pressure belts toward the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ). It is stronger and more consistent over the oceans than over land and often produces partly cloudy sky conditions, characterized by shallow cumulus clouds, or clear skies that make trade-wind islands popular tourist resorts. Its average speed is abou...
  • zonal flow (atmospheric science)
    ...appearance. The surface that is seen through telescopes and in spacecraft images is actually a complex of cloud layers. Like the other giant planets, Saturn’s atmospheric circulation is dominated by zonal (east-west) flow. This manifests itself as a pattern of lighter and darker cloud bands similar to Jupiter’s, although Saturn’s bands are more subtly coloured and are wider...
  • zonal geranium (plant)
    ...(P. × domesticum, largely derived from P. cucullatum, P. angulosum, and P. grandiflorum) have large pansylike flowers, few to the cluster. Zonal, house, or bedding geraniums (P. × hortorum, a complex hybrid largely derived from P. inguinans and P. zonale) are the familiar forms in garden culture and in pots indoors.......
  • zonal structure (geology)
    These are arrangements of rock units with contrasting composition, or texture, in an igneous body, commonly in a broadly concentric pattern. Chilled margins, the fine-grained or glassy edges along the borders of many extrusive and shallow-seated intrusive bodies, represent quenching of magma along contacts with cooler country rock. Other kinds of zones generally reflect fractional......
  • Zonaras, Joannes (Byzantine historian)
    Byzantine historian whose world history, Historical Epitome, extending from the creation to 1118, provides valuable information on the 11th century....
  • zonation (ecology)
    It is known from studies of plant residues and pollen preserved in the highly acid sediments of bogs and from observations of contemporary glaciers that the vegetation southward from the glacial front in the Northern Hemisphere was banded in much the same way the vegetation is zoned today: tundra occurred in a zone closest to the ice; coniferous forests occurred in a warmer and drier zone......
  • Zond (space probe)
    any of a series of eight unmanned Soviet lunar and interplanetary probes. Zond 1 (launched April 1964) and Zond 2 (November 1964) were aimed at Venus and Mars respectively, but failed to send back data on the planets. Zond 3 (July 1965) transmitted closeup photographs of 3,000,000 square miles (7,800,000 square kilometres) of the lunar surface, including the hidden side, before...
  • zonda (wind)
    winter foehn (a warm, dry wind blowing down the side of a mountain) in Argentina, where it blows from the west across the Andes Mountains....
  • zone (geology)
    stratigraphic unit consisting of all the strata containing a particular fossil and, hence, deposited during its existence. The extent of the unit in a particular place, on the local stratigraphic range of the fossil plant or animal involved, is called a teilzone. The geological time units corresponding to biozones and teilzones are biochrons and teilchrons, respectively. Biozone is also used syno...
  • zone defense (sports)
    ...change. Whereas pioneer coaches such as Henry Iba of Oklahoma A&M University (now Oklahoma State University) or Long Island University’s Clair Bee taught strictly a man-to-man defense, the zone defense, developed by Cam Henderson of Marshall University in West Virginia, later became an integral part of the game (see below Play of the game)....
  • zone fare
    To make prices more equitable, some transit operators vary charges for different trips. Distance-based fares, proportional to the length of the trip, are a better reflection of the cost of service, and travelers tend to accept the idea that they should pay more for longer trips. The disadvantage of distance-based fares is that the operator must distinguish travelers by their trip lengths, which......
  • Zone Improvement Plan Code
    system of zone coding introduced by the U.S. Post Office Department (now the U.S. Postal Service) in 1963 to facilitate the sorting and delivery of mail. After an extensive publicity campaign, the department finally succeeded in eliciting from the public a widespread acceptance of the ZIP code. Users of the mails were requested to include in all addresses a five-number code, of which the first thr...
  • zone melting (industry)
    any of a group of techniques used to purify an element or a compound or control its composition by melting a short region (i.e., zone) and causing this liquid zone to travel slowly through a relatively long ingot, or charge, of the solid. As the zone travels, it redistributes impurities along the charge. The final distribution of the impurity depends on its distribution in the starting cha...
  • zone of aeration (hydrology)
    region of aeration above the water table. This zone also includes the capillary fringe above the water table, the height of which will vary according to the grain size of the sediments. In coarse-grained mediums the fringe may be flat at the top and thin, whereas in finer grained material it will tend to be higher and may be very irregular along the upper surface. The vadose zo...
  • zone of eluviation (soil type)
    ...whereas the layer immediately below an A horizon that has been extensively leached (that is, slowly washed of certain contents by the action of percolating water) is given the separate designation E horizon, or zone of eluviation (from Latin ex, “out,” and lavere, “to wash”). The development ...
  • zone of illuviation (soil type)
    Below A lies the B horizon. In mature soils this layer is characterized by an accumulation of clay (small particles less than 0.002 mm [0.00008 inch] in diameter) that has either been deposited out of percolating waters or precipitated by chemical processes involving dissolved products of weathering. Clay endows B horizons with an array of diverse structural features (blocks, columns, and......
  • zone refining (technology)
    Zone refining is the most important of the zone-melting techniques. In zone refining, a solid is refined by passing a number of molten zones through it in one direction. Each zone carries a fraction of the impurities to the end of the solid charge, thereby purifying the remainder. Zone refining was first described by the U.S. scientist W.G. Pfann and......
  • zone system (photography)
    ...possibilities of photography in this and other ways. In the early part of the decade he codified the technical principles that he had long practiced into a pedagogical system he called the “zone system,” which rationalized the relationship among exposure, development, and resulting densities in the photographic negative. The purpose of the system was ultimately not technical but.....
  • zone-tailed hawk (bird)
    Aggressive mimicry in which the predator resembles a nonthreatening third party is exemplified by the American zone-tailed hawk, whose resemblance to certain nonaggressive vultures enables it to launch surprise attacks against small animals. In other examples, the aggressor may even mimic the prey of its intended prey. Anglerfish, for example, possess a small, mobile, wormlike organ that can be......
  • zongdu (Chinese official)
    ...Finally, clusters of neighbouring provinces came under the supervisory control of still-more-prestigious central government officials, known as supreme commanders (zongdu), whose principal function was to coordinate military affairs in extended, multi-province areas. As the dynasty grew older, as the population expanded, and as administration became......
  • Zongli Yamen (Chinese government)
    In 1861 Wenxiang was appointed the first principal director of the Zongli Yamen, which acted as the Chinese foreign office. In this position, until his death, he became popular with foreign diplomats for his straightforwardness. It was partly through his efforts that a détente was reached with the Western powers that lasted almost 20 years (1860–78)....
  • Zongo, Henri (Burkina Faso military officer)
    ...as power became concentrated in the hands of a few military officers—the most important of which were Sankara, Captain Blaise Compaoré, Major Jean-Baptiste Boukari Lingani, and Captain Henri Zongo. As popular support continued to decline, on October 15, 1987, a military coup overthrew Sankara, killing him and several others....
  • Zonguldak (Turkey)
    city, capital of Zonguldak il (province), northwestern Turkey, on the Black Sea coast. The well-equipped port is the main outlet for coal extracted from the basin between Zonguldak and Ereğli. The city’s development and rapid rise in population were associated with the growth of this coal industry after the mid-19th century. Mining was extensiv...
  • Zonguldak (province, Turkey)
    ...of this coal industry after the mid-19th century. Mining was extensively developed by the government after 1940, and much of the city’s workforce has remained engaged in work related to coal. The Zonguldak Technical School of Mining is in the city. There are also chemical plants and coke ovens. Zonguldak is connected by rail with Ankara and by sea with Istanbul....
  • Zonheboto (India)
    town, administrative headquarters of Zonheboto district, Nāgāland state, northeastern India. Formerly in the Mokokchūng subdivision, it is situated 41 mi (66 km) northeast of Kohīma town. The town has some cottage industries. ...
  • Zonheboto (district, India)
    Zonheboto district (about 500 sq mi [1,300 sq km]) was separated from Mokokchūng district in 1973 and is located in the central part of the state. It is bounded by Mokokchūng district on the north, Tuensang district on the east, Phek district on the south, and Kohīma and Wokha districts on the west. The region is crisscrossed by several faults and is subject to earthquakes. It...
  • zoning (geology)
    The salt deposits of a salt pan are zoned like bathtub rings, with less-soluble sulfates and carbonates at the outer margin and highly soluble sodium chloride (table salt) at the centre. The crystallization of these salts can be compared with the evaporation of brine in a dish. The first precipitates from the evaporating brine are calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and magnesium carbonate......
  • zoning (land use)
    the legislative method of controlling land use by regulating such considerations as the type of buildings (e.g., commercial or residential) that may be erected and the population density. Applied primarily to urban areas, it is accomplished by dividing land area into zoning districts, each having specific conditions under which land and buildings may be legally developed and used. In combi...
  • zoning code (urban planning)
    The second set of requirements is the zoning code, in a more restricted sense. The zoning code lays out a series of requirements for construction and land use within particular areas (zones) of the jurisdiction. Zones may be either inclusive or exclusive. If the zones are inclusive, a hierarchy of land uses is created, usually ranging from the least to the most offensive uses. The typical......
  • Zonotrichia capensis (bird)
    ...skulkers in woodlands; and the white-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) and the white-throated sparrow (Z. albicollis), larger species with black-and-white crown stripes. The rufous-collared sparrow (Z. capensis) has an exceptionally wide breeding distribution: from Mexico and Caribbean islands to Tierra del Fuego. A great many emberizine sparrows are native to......
  • zonule of Zinn (anatomy)
    Within the cavities formed by this triple-layered coat there are the crystalline lens, suspended by fine transparent fibres—the suspensory ligament or zonule of Zinn—from the ciliary body; the aqueous humour, a clear fluid filling the spaces between the cornea and the lens and iris; and the vitreous body, a clear jelly filling the much larger cavity enclosed by the sclera, the......
  • Zonzon Pépette, fille de Londres (work by Baillon)
    Baillon’s earliest novels Histoire d’une Marie (1921; “The Story of a [Girl Named] Marie”) and Zonzon Pépette, fille de Londres (1923; “Zonzon Pépette, Girl of London”) are realistic studies of prostitution, while En Sabots (1922; “In Wooden Shoes”), the novel that first drew th...
  • zoo
    place where wild animals and, in some instances, domesticated animals are exhibited in captivity. In such an establishment animals can generally be given more intensive care than is possible in nature reserves or sanctuaries. Most long-established zoos exhibit general collections of animals, but some formed more recently specialize in particular groups—e.g., primates, big cats, tropi...
  • Zoo Antwerpen (zoo, Antwerp, Belgium)
    zoological garden in Antwerp, Belg., that has one of the largest and most diversified animal collections in Europe. It houses more than 6,000 specimens, including about 300 reptiles and 1,700 fish, which represent more than 1,160 different species. Among the most notable specimens of the mammal collection are the rare Père David’s deer and white rhinoceros...
  • Zoo Praha (zoo, Prague, Czech Republic)
    zoological garden 4 km (2.5 miles) from downtown Prague, noted for breeding the rare Przewalski’s horse. This municipal zoo, opened in 1931, occupies 45 hectares (111 acres) and houses more than 2,300 specimens of about 465 species. Besides serving as a conservation centre for the Przewalski’s horse, it has a strong collection of Asiatic animals; South American and...
  • Zoobotryon (genus of moss animal)
    ...(0.04 inch) in height. Colonies of the coralline genus of European seas Pentapora, however, can reach one metre (3.3 feet) or more in circumference; a warm-water gymnolaemate genus, Zoobotryon, which hangs from harbour pilings, and the freshwater phylactolaemate Pectinatella each produce masses that may be one-half metre across. Colonies that form crusts generally......
  • zoochlorella (algae)
    small green alga (often Chlorella) or, sometimes, flagellate protozoan (e.g., Tetraselmis, Carteria) that lives within the bodies of various freshwater protozoans and invertebrates. Zoochlorellae often colour their hosts green (e.g., green hydra and green Paramecium bursaria). As symbionts, zoochlorellae use carbon dioxide and nitrogenous and p...
  • zoochlorellae (algae)
    small green alga (often Chlorella) or, sometimes, flagellate protozoan (e.g., Tetraselmis, Carteria) that lives within the bodies of various freshwater protozoans and invertebrates. Zoochlorellae often colour their hosts green (e.g., green hydra and green Paramecium bursaria). As symbionts, zoochlorellae use carbon dioxide and nitrogenous and p...
  • zoochory (seed dispersal)
    The dispersing agents for seeds and fruits are indicated in such terms as anemochory, hydrochory, and zoochory, which mean dispersal by wind, water, and animals, respectively. Within the zoochorous group further differentiation according to the carriers can be made: saurochory, dispersal by reptiles; ornithochory, by birds; myrmecochory, by ants. Or the manner in which the diaspores are carried......
  • zooecdysone (hormone)
    The molting hormones (zooecdysones) of insects and crustaceans are generally derivatives of cholestane. All possess a ketone group at position 6, a double bond between positions 7 and 8, and 2β-, 3β-, and 14α-hydroxyl groups. The side chain is hydroxylated at C22 and variously at C20, C25, and C26. Some of these compounds occur in plants, many of which also contain potent......
  • Zooflagellata (protozoan)
    any flagellate protozoan that is traditionally of the protozoan class Zoomastigophorea (sometimes called Zooflagellata), although recent classifications of this group have questioned the taxonomic usefulness of the term because some zooflagellates have been found to have photosynthetic capabilities and some phytoflagellates heterotrophic capabilities....
  • zooflagellate (protozoan)
    any flagellate protozoan that is traditionally of the protozoan class Zoomastigophorea (sometimes called Zooflagellata), although recent classifications of this group have questioned the taxonomic usefulness of the term because some zooflagellates have been found to have photosynthetic capabilities and some phytoflagellates heterotrophic capabilities....
  • zoogeographic region (biogeography)
    any of six or seven areas of the world defined by animal geographers on the basis of their distinctive animal life. These regions differ only slightly from the floristic regions of botanists....
  • zoogeography
    the branch of the science of biogeography that is concerned with the geographic distribution of animal species. In addition to mapping the present distribution of species, zoogeographers formulate theories to explain the distribution, based on information about geography, physiography, climate, and geologic history, as well as knowledge of the evolutionary history and relations...
  • Zoogloea (bacteria)
    ...colonizes the lungs of persons with cystic fibrosis, it produces a thick capsular polymer of alginic acid that contributes to the difficulty of eradicating the bacterium. Bacteria of the genus Zoogloea secrete fibres of cellulose that enmesh the bacteria into a floc that floats on the surface of liquid and keeps the bacteria exposed to air, a requirement for the metabolism of this......
  • zooid (biology)
    Although genetically identical, colony members of many hydrozoans and some anthozoans are polymorphic, differing in morphology (form and structure) and/or physiology. Each zooid within the colony has a specific function and varies somewhat in form. For example, gastrozooids bear tentacles and are specialized for feeding. Some colonies possess dactylozooids, tentacleless polyps heavily armed......
  • zoological garden
    place where wild animals and, in some instances, domesticated animals are exhibited in captivity. In such an establishment animals can generally be given more intensive care than is possible in nature reserves or sanctuaries. Most long-established zoos exhibit general collections of animals, but some formed more recently specialize in particular groups—e.g., primates, big cats, tropi...
  • Zoological Garden of the Bristol, Clifton and West of England Zoological Society (zoo, Clifton, England, United Kingdom)
    zoological park opened in 1836 in the Clifton section of Bristol, Eng. Though occupying only 5 hectares (12 acres), the zoo maintains a wide variety of floral plantings and exhibits more than 900 animals representing about 200 species. Noted especially for its monkey exhibit and its aquariums, the collection also includes a breeding group of black rhinoceroses and numerous okapi....
  • Zoological Gardens (zoo, London, United Kingdom)
    zoo in the northern part of Regent’s Park, in the City of Westminster, London. It has one of the most comprehensive animal collections in the world and the largest zoological library of any zoo. The London Zoo is administered by the Zoological Society of London. ...
  • Zoological Lexicon, A (work by Jayakar)
    His encyclopaedia, Ḥayāt al-ḥayawān (c. 1371; partial Eng. trans. by A.S.G. Jayakar, A Zoological Lexicon, 2 vol.), is extant in three Arabic versions of different lengths and in Persian, Turkish, and Latin translations. It treats in alphabetical order the 931 animals mentioned in the Qurʾān, in the Ḥadīth, and in Arab......
  • zoological park
    place where wild animals and, in some instances, domesticated animals are exhibited in captivity. In such an establishment animals can generally be given more intensive care than is possible in nature reserves or sanctuaries. Most long-established zoos exhibit general collections of animals, but some formed more recently specialize in particular groups—e.g., primates, big cats, tropi...
  • Zoological Society of London (British organization)
    ...still flourishes, was opened to the public in 1765. In 1775 a zoo was founded in a Royal Park in Madrid, and 18 years later the zoological collection of the Jardin des Plantes, Paris, was begun. The Zoological Society of London established its collection in Regent’s Park in 1828, two years after the society itself was founded....
  • Zoological Society of Philadelphia (American organization)
    ...zoo in the United States, opened in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1874 with an animal inventory of several hundred native and exotic specimens. It was begun and continues to be operated by the Zoological Society of Philadelphia, founded in 1859. In 1868, three years after the end of the American Civil War, a 42-acre (17-hectare) site was selected in Fairmount Park, an architect was sent to......
  • Zoologicka Zahrada Praha (zoo, Prague, Czech Republic)
    zoological garden 4 km (2.5 miles) from downtown Prague, noted for breeding the rare Przewalski’s horse. This municipal zoo, opened in 1931, occupies 45 hectares (111 acres) and houses more than 2,300 specimens of about 465 species. Besides serving as a conservation centre for the Przewalski’s horse, it has a strong collection of Asiatic animals; South American and...
  • Zoologische Garten, Der (German publication)
    The Berlin Zoo publishes the scientific journals Der zoologische Garten (“The Zoological Garden”) and Beiträge zur Vogelkunde (“Contributions to Ornithology”), as well as the lay-oriented Milu....
  • Zoologischer Garten Basel (zoo, Basel, Switzerland)
    privately owned zoological garden in Basel, Switz., noted for its outstanding work in the breeding of the Indian rhinoceros and the pygmy hippopotamus. The zoo was founded in 1874 for the purpose of exhibiting local wildlife. (It opened with about 100 mammals and perhaps 400 birds, mostly European.) Financial difficulties, however, forced zoo administrators to obtain exotic animals that would arou...
  • Zoologischer Garten der Stadt Frankfurt am Main (zoo, Frankfurt am Main, Germany)
    municipal zoological garden in Frankfurt am Main, Ger. It was founded in 1858 by the Frankfurt Zoological Society. Because the original site of the zoo was not large enough to allow for the expansion of the collection, in 1874 the zoo was relocated to its present 34.5-acre (14-hectare) site. The city of Frankfurt took over financial support of the zoo during World War I. Much of the grounds and co...
  • Zoologischer Garten Köln (zoo, Cologne, Germany)
    one of the major zoological gardens in Germany. Opened in 1860, the zoo occupies 20 hectares (49 acres) along the Rhine River in Cologne. About 6,000 specimens of 650 species are exhibited on its attractively kept grounds. The zoo specializes in primates and has an excellent collection of lemurs. It also has an outstanding aquarium....
  • Zoologischer Garten Leipzig (zoo, Leipzig, Germany)
    zoological garden in Leipzig, Ger., noted for its carnivore collection. The zoo was opened in 1878 and taken over by the city in 1920. Occupying a 22-hectare (54-acre) site, the zoo maintains about 5,000 specimens of approximately 600 species. With big cats as its main specialty, the Leipzig Zoo has bred more than 2,000 lions and 250 rare Siberian tigers, as well as hundreds of ...
  • Zoologischer Garten und Aquarium Berlin (zoo, Berlin, Germany)
    , zoo and aquarium in Berlin, containing one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive animal collections. It is generally considered the oldest zoo in Germany, having been founded in 1841, when the Prussian King Frederick William IV presented his pheasantry and menagerie to the citizens. The zoological garden was officially opened in 1844 with municipal support. Many...
  • Zoologischer Garten Zürich (zoo, Zürich, Switzerland)
    privately owned zoological park partially funded by the city and canton of Zürich. Opened in 1929, the 10-hectare (25-acre) zoo exhibits nearly 2,100 specimens of more than 330 species. It has a good ungulate collection and a breeding group of Humboldt’s penguins. Its specialties include vicunas, pygmy hogs, snow leopards, Arabian oryx, and Rothschild’s myna...
  • zoology
    branch of biology that studies the members of the animal kingdom and animal life in general. It includes both the inquiry into individual animals and their constituent parts, even to the molecular level, and the inquiry into animal populations, entire faunas, and the relationships of animals to each other, to plants, and to the nonliving environment. Though this wide range of studies results in so...
  • Zoom, Billy (American musician)
    ...John Doe (b. Feb. 25, 1953Decatur, Ill.), Billy Zoom (original name Ty Kindell; b. Feb. 20, 1948 Illinois), and D.J.......
  • zoom lens (optics)
    Long experience with both motion-picture and still cameras has shown the need for a variety of focal lengths (ranging from ultrawide angle to telephoto) to photograph scenes under the best conditions. To make changing focal lengths more convenient, the lenses have sometimes been mounted on a turret, so that one out of a set of three lenses may be quickly selected. For motion pictures this would......
  • Zoomastigophorea (protozoan)
    any flagellate protozoan that is traditionally of the protozoan class Zoomastigophorea (sometimes called Zooflagellata), although recent classifications of this group have questioned the taxonomic usefulness of the term because some zooflagellates have been found to have photosynthetic capabilities and some phytoflagellates heterotrophic capabilities....
  • zoomorphism (religion)
    ...and totemism (a belief system and social system based on animal symbolism), animal images frequently occur in other more sophisticated religions. The animal form as a representation of the divine (theriomorphism, or zoomorphism) is characteristic of polytheism. It has been maintained in Hinduism, to some extent in Buddhism, and occasionally in Christianity. Besides the theriomorphic......
  • Zoonomia; or, The Laws of Organic Life (book by Darwin)
    Medical historians celebrate Darwin for his Zoonomia (or The Laws of Organic Life; 1794–96), an ambitious two-volume work aiming to classify facts about animals, to set out laws describing organic life, and to catalog diseases with their treatments. Unlike some contemporary physicians, Darwin endorsed active intervention with drugs and mechanical......
  • zoonoses (pathology)
    any infectious disease transmitted between humans and other vertebrate animals. The term was originally defined to describe a group of diseases that humans may acquire from domestic animals. This definition has been modified to include all human diseases that are acquired from or transmitted to any other vertebrate. Examples include rabies (from small mammals such as the dog, fo...
  • zoonosis (pathology)
    any infectious disease transmitted between humans and other vertebrate animals. The term was originally defined to describe a group of diseases that humans may acquire from domestic animals. This definition has been modified to include all human diseases that are acquired from or transmitted to any other vertebrate. Examples include rabies (from small mammals such as the dog, fo...
  • zoonotic disease (pathology)
    any infectious disease transmitted between humans and other vertebrate animals. The term was originally defined to describe a group of diseases that humans may acquire from domestic animals. This definition has been modified to include all human diseases that are acquired from or transmitted to any other vertebrate. Examples include rabies (from small mammals such as the dog, fo...
  • Zoopagales (order of fungi)
    ...body) or ectoparasitic (lives on the body) on nematodes, protozoa, and fungi; thallus branched or unbranched; asexual and sexual reproduction; contains one order.Order ZoopagalesParasitic on amoebas, rotifers, nematodes, and other protozoa; asexual reproduction by conidia borne singly or in chains, not forcibly discharged; example gen...
  • Zoopagomycotina (subphylum of fungi)
    ...become septate; example genera include Entomophthora, Ballocephala, Conidiobolus, Entomophaga, and Neozygites.Subphylum Zoopagomycotina (incertae sedis)Endoparasitic (lives in the body) or ectoparasitic (lives on the body) on nematodes, ...
  • zoophilia (sexual behaviour)
    sexual relations between a human being and an animal. Although the practice is illegal in most countries, occasional zoophilic encounters are fairly common, especially in rural areas, where 17 percent of U.S. males in the Kinsey report of 1948 acknowledged sexual experience with animals at least once. Sexual contacts between women and animals occur less frequently....
  • zooplankton
    small floating or weakly swimming organisms that drift with water currents and, with phytoplankton, make up the planktonic food supply upon which almost all oceanic organisms are ultimately dependent. Many animals, from single-celled Radiolaria to the eggs or larvae of herrings, crabs, and lobsters, are found among the zooplankton. Permanent plankton, or holoplankton...
  • zoopraxiscope (motion-picture projector)
    ...could never assume such unlikely positions. To counter such criticism, Muybridge gave lectures on animal locomotion throughout the United States and Europe. These lectures were illustrated with a zoopraxiscope, a lantern he developed that projected images in rapid succession onto a screen from photographs printed on a rotating glass disc, producing the illusion of moving pictures. The......
  • zoospore (reproductive cell)
    ...(walled, nonflagellate, spherical cells) that are carried by water currents and upon germination produce a new organism. Some green algae produce nonmotile spores called aplanospores. In contrast, zoospores lack true cell walls and bear one or more flagella. These flagella allow zoospores to swim to a favourable environment, whereas monospores and aplanospores have to rely on passive transport....
  • Zoot Suit Riots (American history)
    ...and Japanese Americans were rounded up in the Los Angeles area and interned at camps inland. Racial tensions between sailors and local Mexican American youths exploded in the so-called “Zoot Suit Riots” (June 3–10, 1943). The servicemen targeted Latino youths who wore trendy zoot suits, double-breasted jackets with pegged pants. The youths were beaten and stripped of......
  • Zoothera (bird)
    any of about 37 species of thrushes of the genus Zoothera (family Turdidae), including birds sometimes placed in the genera Geokichla, Ixoreus, Oreocincla, and Ridgwayia and some that have been assigned to Turdus. All are more than 20 centimetres (8 inches) long and have pale underwing stripes. They inhabit montane forest undergrowth. The largest (29 cm, or 11 ...
  • zootoxin (poison)
    Poisonous animals are widely distributed throughout the animal kingdom; the only major group that seems to be exempt is the birds. ...
  • zooxanthella (protozoan)
    flagellate protozoan (or alga) with yellow or brown pigments contained in chromatophores that lives in other protozoa (foraminiferans and radiolarians) and in some invertebrates. In illuminated conditions, zooxanthellae use the carbon dioxide and waste materials of the host, supplying oxygen and food substances in return. They spend their resting stage in the host; at times they escape and become ...
  • Zophar (biblical figure)
    in the Book of Job (2:11, 11:1, 20:1, 42:9), one of the three comforters of Job, a biblical archetype of the good man whose misfortunes are undeserved. Like the other two comforters, Bildad and Eliphaz, Zophar emphasizes an old Hebrew concept—suffering is the inevitable lot of the evil man; therefore, Job’s protests of innocence are deceptive, even sinful. Zophar is portrayed as more...
  • Zóphiël: or, The Bride of Seven (work by Brooks)
    ...to and then estranged from the officer and twice attempted suicide. On regaining her health she returned to the Cuban plantation, which she had inherited, and began work on a verse romance, Zóphiël; or, The Bride of Seven, based on a tale in the apocryphal Book of Tobit. She published the first canto of the poem in Boston in 1825 under the name Mrs. Brooks and completed......
  • Zoppot (Poland)
    city and port, Pomorskie województwo (province), northern Poland. It lies on the Gulf of Gdańsk between Gdańsk (Danzig) and Gdynia. One of Poland’s largest and most popular seaside and health resorts, a role it has filled since the 16th century, Sopot is situated in an area of wooded hills. The International Song...
  • Zoque (people)
    group of Middle American Indian peoples inhabiting territories in southern Mexico. The Mixe-Zoquean peoples today comprise the Mixe, living in northeastern Oaxaca; the Zoque, primarily inhabiting northwestern Chiapas; and the Popoluca (not to be confused with the Popoloca), who live in eastern Veracruz and Oaxaca, about midway between the Mixe and Zoque. The languages of these people are......
  • Zoquean languages
    family of North American Indian languages spoken in southern Mexico. There are seven languages in the family, divided into two branches, or divisions—Zoquean and Mixean. Zoque is spoken in the Mexican states of Chiapas, Tabasco, and Oaxaca. Sierra Popoluca and Texistepec Popoluca, spoken in Veracruz, are the other Zoquean languages. Mixe, spoken in eastern Oaxaca, and Sayula and Oluta......
  • Zor (town and historical site, Lebanon)
    town on the Mediterranean coast of southern Lebanon, located 12 miles (19 km) north of the modern border with Israel and 25 miles (40 km) south of Sidon (modern Ṣaydā). It was a major Phoenician seaport from about 2000 bc through the Roman period....
  • Zorach, William (American sculptor)
    U.S. traditionalist sculptor of simple, figurative subjects who was a leading figure in the early 20th-century revival of direct carving, whereby the sculptor seeks his image directly from the material to be carved, relying on neither the inspiration of models nor the aid of mechanical devices. Zorach’s mature work is monumental in form and makes skillful use of the natural colour, veining,...
  • Zoraptera (insect)
    any of a small group of about 30 species of insects found on every continent except Europe. These minute insects are less than 3 mm (18 inch) long and have chewing mouthparts and nine-segmented antennae. Most species are wingless and blind, although a few have two pairs of sparsely veined membranous wings and eyes....
  • zorapteran (insect)
    any of a small group of about 30 species of insects found on every continent except Europe. These minute insects are less than 3 mm (18 inch) long and have chewing mouthparts and nine-segmented antennae. Most species are wingless and blind, although a few have two pairs of sparsely veined membranous wings and eyes....
  • Zorba the Greek (film by Cacoyannis [1964])
    Story and Screenplay: S.H. Barnett, Peter Stone, Frank Tarloff for Father GooseAdapted Screenplay: Edward Anhalt for BecketCinematography, Black-and-White: Walter Lassally for Zorba the GreekCinematography, Color: Harry Stradling for My Fair LadyArt Direction, Black-and-White: Vassilis Fotopoulos for Zorba the GreekArt Direction, Color: Gene Allen and Cecil......
  • Zorba the Greek (work by Kazantzakis)
    ...poets have won the Nobel Prize for Literature, George Seferis in 1963 and Odysseus Elytis in 1979. The novelist best known outside Greece is the Cretan Níkos Kazantzákis, whose Zorba the Greek was made into a popular film. A number of Greek composers have acquired an international reputation, including Nikos Skalkottas, Manos Hadjidakis, Mikis Theodorakis, and Iannis......
  • zoril (mammal)
    (Ictonyx [sometimes Zorilla] striatus), African carnivore of the weasel family (Mustelidae), frequenting diverse habitats. It has a slender body, 29–39 centimetres (12–16 inches) long, and a bushy white tail, 21–31 cm long. Its fur is long and black, white striped on the back and white spotted on the face. Usually solitary, the zorille hunts at night, fee...
  • zorilla (mammal)
    (Ictonyx [sometimes Zorilla] striatus), African carnivore of the weasel family (Mustelidae), frequenting diverse habitats. It has a slender body, 29–39 centimetres (12–16 inches) long, and a bushy white tail, 21–31 cm long. Its fur is long and black, white striped on the back and white spotted on the face. Usually solitary, the zorille hunts at night, fee...
  • Zorilla striatus (mammal)
    (Ictonyx [sometimes Zorilla] striatus), African carnivore of the weasel family (Mustelidae), frequenting diverse habitats. It has a slender body, 29–39 centimetres (12–16 inches) long, and a bushy white tail, 21–31 cm long. Its fur is long and black, white striped on the back and white spotted on the face. Usually solitary, the zorille hunts at night, fee...
  • zorille (mammal)
    (Ictonyx [sometimes Zorilla] striatus), African carnivore of the weasel family (Mustelidae), frequenting diverse habitats. It has a slender body, 29–39 centimetres (12–16 inches) long, and a bushy white tail, 21–31 cm long. Its fur is long and black, white striped on the back and white spotted on the face. Usually solitary, the zorille hunts at night, fee...
  • Zorina, Vera (German-American actress and dancer)
    German-born dancer and actress (b. Jan. 2, 1917, Berlin, Ger.—d. April 9, 2003, Santa Fe, N.M.), was a ballerina with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo for three years before attracting greater notice in 1936 as the star of the London production of On Your Toes. She went on to star in such other productions as the Hollywood film The Goldwyn Follies and the Broadway musical I ...
  • Zork (electronic game)
    Will Crowther’s Adventure (c. 1975) was the prototype for text-based computer games organized as interactive stories, but in 1977 several students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) decided that they could write more sophisticated interactive fiction by abandoning FORTRAN, the programming language used for ......
  • Zorn, Anders Leonard (Swedish painter)
    Swedish painter and etcher, internationally famed as one of the best genre and portrait painters in Europe at the end of the 19th century....
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