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ABDOMEN The abdomen is the tail area of an insect. An insect's abdomen contains its heart, Malpighian tubules, reproductive organs, and most of the digestive system (foregut, hindgut and rectum).

ACID RAIN Acid rain is polluted and harmful to the environment.

ADAPTATION An adaptation is an alteration in the structure or function of an organism by natural selection, that helps it survive in its environment.

ADAPTIVE RADIATION Adaptive radiation is the diversification of a species as it adapts to different ecological niches. If successful, the species become specialized for the new environments (the mechanism being natural selection), and they eventually evolve into different species.

AFRICAN GRAY PARROT The African Gray Parrot is an intelligent, talkative bird from rainforests in Western and Central Africa.

AGOUTI The agouti is a large, short-tailed rodent from rainforests in the Americas.

AIR PLANT Air plants (also called epiphytes) are plants that live attached to a plant (or other structure like a telephone pole or a building) and not in the ground). Epiphytes include many orchids and bromeliads. Epiphytes are not parasites; they get water and nutrients from the air (and not from their host).

ALGAE Algae (singular alga) are plant-like organisms that live in water. They are very simple organisms; they have no roots, no stem, and no leaves.

ALLIGATOR Alligators are large reptiles. Primitive alligators evolved during the late Triassic period.

AMAZON RAINFOREST The Amazon rainforest is a huge tropical rainforest located in the vicinity of the Amazon River. The Amazon is located in much of northern South America, mostly in northern Brazil (but also in other northern South American countries).

AMNIOTE Amniotes are animals whose eggs contain an amnion, a membrane that surrounds the embryo and helps retain fluids. This lets an animal lay eggs other than in the water (without having them dry out). Mammals, birds, dinosaurs, turtles, snakes, crocodilians, and lizards are amniotes.

AMPHIBIAN (pronounced am-FIB-ee-in) Amphibians (meaning "double life") are vertebrate animals that live in the water during their early life (breathing through gills), but usually live on land as adults (and breathe with lungs). There are three groups (orders) of living amphibians: newts and salamanders (urodeles); frogs and toads (anurans); and caecilians (the worm-like gymnophiones).

ANACONDA The anaconda is the biggest snake in the world.

ANAL PROLEGS Anal prolegs are a pair of stumpy legs at the very end of a caterpillar's abdomen (hind region). These legs have crochets (small grasping hooks) on them.

ANAPSID Anapsids include the turtles and their extinct kin. They are distinguished by having no holes in the sides of their skulls.

ANGIOSPERMS Angiosperms are flowering plants that produce seeds enclosed in fruit. They are the dominant type of plant today; there are over 250,000 species. Their flowers are used in reproduction. Angiosperms evolved 125 million years ago and became the dominant plants about 100 million years ago. Angiosperms are divided into the monocots (like corn) and dicots (like beans).

ANT Ants are social insects.

ANTENNAE Antennae (singular antenna) are sensory appendages attached to the head of some adult insects. Antennae are used for the sense of smell and balance. Butterflies have two segmented antennae with a small club at the end of each. Moths have antennae without the club.

ANTHOPHYTA Anthophyta are flowering plants, the largest group of plants (which includes the grasses). The flowers are used in reproduction. They evolved during the Cretaceous period.

ANTHROPOLOGIST An anthropologist is a scientist who studies people and their culture, habits, beliefs, traditions, and origins.

APES Apes are primates that anatomically resemble humans. They include the gorilla, chimpanzee, bonobo, orangutan, gibbon and siamang.

ARTHROPOD Arthropods are a group of animals with hard exoskeletons made of chitin, segmented bodies and jointed limbs. Insects, arachnids, uniramians, trilobites, crustaceans, and others are arthropods.

ASSASSIN BUG Assassin bugs are a type of predatory insect.

AUTOTROPH An autotroph (or producer) is an organism that makes its own food from light energy or chemical energy without eating. Most green plants, many protists (one-celled organisms like slime molds) and most bacteria are autotrophs. Autotrophs are the base of the food chain.

AYE-AYE A strange, nocturnal primate from Madagascar.

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