Glossary
A
- absorbed
- - soaked in
- abundant
- - lots of something
- adaptations
- - the changes of an organism that allows it to survive
- antlers
- - a bony outgrowth on the heads of the deer family
- approximate
- - almost - as in a counted number
- archaeology
- - The science of prehistoric people
B
- biologists
- - scientists that study living things
- bugle
- - bellowing sound made by bull elk during the rut
- bull
- - male of certain animals like elk
C
- calf
- - baby or infant of certain animals like elk
- camouflage
- - the ability to hide or blend into the environment
- cartilage
- - a stiff tissue found in vertebrates
- Cervidae
- - any member of the deer family
- chamber
- - container
- cow
- - female of certain animals like elk
- cross section
- - the view of an object through its interior
- cud
- - food chewed a second time by some grazing animals
D
- decorative
- - something done for the purpose of making a decoration or for looks only
- depredation
- - the act of preying - as in a predator
- disease
- - illness
E
- elevation
- - height of land above sea level
- evidence
- - clues that prove something
- excessive
- - too much
F
- forage
- - vegetation eaten by herbivores
- forbs
- - low-growing, soft-stemmed plants
G
- gestation
- - the time it takes a calf to develop from mating to the birth
- graze
- - to eat grasses
H
- harem
- - a part of a herd consisting of a bull, some cows and their calves
- herbivore
- - organism that eats plants for energy.
- herd
- - a group of animals that stay close together
I
- incisors
- - front teeth used for biting
- interference
- - to get in the way
- intestine
- - part of the body that moves digested food
- introduced
- - to put something in a place for the first time
M
- mating
- - when animals select a partner
- migrate (migration)
- - to move from one habitat or region to another seasonally
- molars
- - back teeth used for chewing
P
- pictograph
- - a type of writing made from pictures
- poacher
- - someone who kills animals illegally or steals resources such as antlers
- predator
- - an animal that hunts for its food
- prehistoric
- - before written history
- prey
- - the animal the is hunted or becomes food for a predator
R
- reestablished
- - to return something back to the way it used to be
- regurgitate
- - to bring food back into the mouth
- ruminant
- - ungulate having a multi-chambered stomach that digests plant fibers
- rut
- - mating season for elk
S
- spiritual
- - of a religious nature
U
- ungulates
- - mammals with hooves
V
- velvet
- - the soft, fuzzy skin that forms on antlers
- vessels
- - the veins or arteries
W
- wapiti
- - shawnee name for elk, meaning "white rump" elk in winter
- winter feeding
- - the practice of humans helping grazing animals by providing them with food during winter months
