Glossaries
Mammals
- Glossary for Lower Grades (Grade 4 and up) /
- Glossary for Higher Grades (Grade 9 and up)
Glossary for Lower Grades
Adaptations
Traits that are retained over time. Adaptations help animals meet challenges and take advantage of opportunities. Adaptations often happen over a very long period of time: it can take hundreds, thousands or even millions of years for an adaptation to become common throughout a species.
Antlers
Branched head ornaments that are shed and re-grow each year. As it grows, an antler has an inner core of bone and an outer layer of skin called velvet. Fully developed antlers consist of only dead bone. Moose have antlers.
Canines
Teeth used for stabbing and tearing.
Dentine
An ivory-like substance made of calcified tissue. It forms the inner layer of a tooth and the pulp cavity.
Digitigrade
An animal that walks on its toes.
Enamel
The outer layer of teeth and the hardest substance produced by mammals' bodies. It consists almost entirely of hydroxyapatite, which is a type of calcium.
Endothermy
The physiological process by which most mammals maintain a constant body temperature.
Evolution
Change in a species over time.
Horns
Unbranched head ornaments that are never shed. Horns have a bony inner core and an outer sheath made of a protein called keratin. Muskoxen have horns.
Incisors
Teeth used for grabbing, cutting and gnawing.
Lodge
A beaver's house. It has two levels: one at water level for eating, and another that is raised and dry for sleeping.
Molars
Teeth used for grinding and shearing.
Natural Selection
The process through which traits are retained. For example, natural selection favoured the survival of polar bears that had traits that enabled them to catch seals.
Plantigrade
An animal that walks on flat feet.
Pulp
The soft tissue in the centre of a tooth. This tissue is made of blood vessels and nerves.
Unguligrade
An animal that walks on hooves.
Glossary for Higher Grades
Ambush
The act of concealing yourself and lying in wait to attack by surprise.
Canine Tooth
One of the four pointed teeth located between the incisors and the premolars.
Circumpolar
Located in or found throughout a polar region.
Cranium
The part of the skull that encloses the brain.
Cusp
Small elevation on the surface of a tooth.
Gestation
The period from conception to birth when a female carries a developing fetus in her uterus.
Guard Hairs
Long, coarse hairs that form the outer, visible part of the fur by being longer than the undercoat, and that consequently protect the undercoat.
Ice-Covered Waters
See sea ice.
Incisor
Front tooth that is used for cutting.
Mandible
The lower jawbone.
Masseter Muscle
A large muscle that raises the lower jaw and is used in chewing. Note that it is attached to the zygomatic arch.
Maternity Den
Place where a female gives birth.
Molar
Grinding tooth located behind the premolars.
Polynya
Areas of open water in sea ice.
Premolar
A grinding tooth located between the incisors and the molars
Reproductive Success / Reproduction Success
Refers to the number of fertile offspring that survive to form the next generation.
Sea Ice
Oceanic waters that are frozen at the surface.
Temporal Muscle
Muscle that acts to raise the mandible and close the jaws. Note that it passes trough the zygomatic arch.
Undercoat
Short, thick, soft fur that is shorter than the guard hairs, and is, consequently, not usually visible.
Zygomatic Arch
The bony arch, or cheekbone, on each side of the skull in vertebrates.