The name derives from its grace and swiftness in the air and from its piratical tendencies; it harasses boobies, pelicans, cormorants, and gulls until they drop their catch. Man-o'-war birds feed chiefly on fish but also prey on the young of sea birds and on jellyfish, squid, and young turtles. They have long hooked beaks and forked tails; the male has an inflatable orange throat pouch that becomes red at courtship time.
The purplish black magnificent frigate-bird, Fregata magnificens, 40 in. (100 cm) long, is found from the Bahamas and Baja California S to Brazil and Ecuador; the great frigate-bird, F. minor, is found in the Indian Ocean. Other species, e.g., the Ascension and Christmas Island frigate-birds, are named for their habitats. The lesser frigate-bird, the smallest (32 in./80 cm) of the family, is found in the South Pacific and on the islands off Brazil and Madagascar.
Frigate-birds are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Aves, order Pelecaniformes, family Fregatidae.
See his autobiography (1963). See also studies by N. Baldwin (1988), M. Foresta (1988), and R. Penrose (1989); Man Ray Fautographe (CD-ROM, 1996).
There has been much speculation concerning who was responsible for the hoax: Dawson; Arthur Smith Woodward, the paleontologist who identified the fossils as hominid remains; Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, who was present during some of the excavations; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who lived nearby and knew Dawson; and others. In 1996, on the basis of evidence found in a trunk in the British Museum, it was suggested that the zoologist Martin A. C. Hinton planted the remains to embarrass Woodward.
See J. S. Weiner, The Piltdown Forgery (1955); R. W. Millar, The Piltdown Men (1972); F. Spencer, Piltdown: A Scientific Forgery (1990).
Anatomically Neanderthals were somewhat shorter but much more robust than contemporary H. sapiens. Distinctive cranial features of Neanderthals included prominent brow ridges, low, sloping foreheads, a chinless and heavy, forward-jutting jaw, and extremely large front teeth. The shoulders and pelvis were wider, the rib cage more conical in shape, and the forearms and lower legs shorter. When placed in an evolutionary perspective, Neanderthal anatomy gives the impression of a large and somewhat "primitive" hominid, as though the evolutionary trajectory of Homo sapiens had somehow reversed itself. This impression is offset somewhat by the observation that the Neanderthal braincase measured on average about 1600 cc, larger than contemporary Homo sapiens.
The unique anatomy of Neanderthals probably reflects the fact that they were the first hominid to spend extensive periods of time in extremely cold environments, having evolved in Europe at the onset of the most recent glaciation of that continent (see Pleistocene epoch). For example, their thick, squat build was adapted to maintaining body temperature under harsh climatic conditions. Large front teeth may have reflected a practice common among Eskimo populations of softening animal skins by chewing. Forceful chewing is also suggested by the heavy jaw and brow ridge, both of which serve to buttress powerful muscles.
Neanderthal phylogeny remains somewhat enigmatic, despite the relative abundance of fossil remains. Among African and Asian archaic Homo sapiens, the reduction in skull and brow ridge thickness and the expansion of the forehead proceeded gradually, with anatomically modern Homo sapiens present by 150,000 years ago in S and E Africa. In contrast, by 125,000 years ago, European archaic Homo sapiens had diverged into the classic Neanderthal form, which persisted in some areas until 28,000 years ago.
Culturally, Neanderthals are closely associated with a stone-tool tradition known as the Mousterian of the middle Paleolithic. They were proficient hunters. As in most cold environments, plant foods were probably relatively scarce and consumed only seasonally. Purported evidence of aesthetic behaviors and of religious beliefs among Neanderthals remains relatively scant and controversial, leading many experts to question the extent of their linguistic capabilities. Controversy also persists regarding the fate of Neanderthals, with opinion divided between those who argue that they became extinct and were replaced by modern H. sapiens and those who argue that their anatomical distinctions were diluted through gene flow (see genetics) with other H. sapiens. Tests conducted on surviving Neanderthal DNA have shown little similarity to the DNA of modern humans.
See E. Trinkaus and P. Shipman, The Neanderthals (1993); J. Shreeve, The Neandertal Enigma (1995); I. Tattersall, The Last Neanderthal (1999).
Today's economy relies on offshore banking, financial services, light manufacturing, and tourism. Agriculture and fishing, once the economic mainstays, have declined. Nonetheless, oats, barley, turnips, and potatoes are grown, and cattle, sheep, pigs, and poultry are raised. Dairying and fishing remain somewhat important, and Manx tweeds are made from local wool.
Traces of occupants of the isle from Neolithic times exist. Of interest are ancient crosses and other stone monuments, a round tower, an old fort, and castles. Occupied by Vikings in the 9th cent., the island was a dependency of Norway until 1266, when it passed to Scotland. From the 14th to the 18th cent. (except for brief periods when it reverted to the English crown) it belonged to the earls of Salisbury and of Derby. Since 1765, when Parliament purchased it from the Duke of Atholl, the Isle has been a dependency of the crown, but it is not subject to acts of the British Parliament. The Tynwald, the Isle of Man's legislature, is the world's oldest continuous legislative assembly.
See D. Ours, Man O' War: A Legend like Lightning (2006).
Priestly healer or shaman, especially among the American Indians. The medicine man (often a woman in some societies) commonly carries a kit of objects such as feathers, stones, or hallucinogenic plants that have magical associations. The work of healing often involves the extraction—by sucking, pulling, or other means—of offending substances from the patient's body. Singing, recitation of myths, and other ceremonies often accompany the healing rite.
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Great frigate bird (Fregata minor).
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Large, aggressive shark (Carcharodon carcharias, family Lamnidae), considered the species most dangerous to humans. It is found in tropical and temperate regions of all oceans and is noted for its voracious appetite. Its diet includes fishes, sea turtles, birds, sea lions, small whales, carcasses, and ships' garbage. The great white is heavy-bodied and has a crescent-shaped tail and large, saw-edged, triangular teeth. It can reach a length of more than 20 ft (6 m) and is generally gray, bluish, or brownish, with the colour shading suddenly into a whitish belly. Though it is widely feared, only a few hundred humans are known to have ever been killed by the great white shark.
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(born Aug. 25, 1890, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.—died Nov. 18, 1976, Paris, France) U.S. photographer, painter, and filmmaker. He grew up in New York City, where he studied architecture, engineering, and art. With Marcel Duchamp he formed the New York Dada group in 1917 and produced ready-mades. In 1921 he moved to Paris and became associated with the Surrealists. He rediscovered the technique for making “cameraless” pictures (photograms), which he called “rayographs,” by placing objects on light-sensitive paper; he also experimented with the technique of solarization, which renders part of the image negative and part positive by exposing a print or negative to a flash of light during development. He turned to portrait and fashion photography and made a virtually complete record of the celebrities of Parisian cultural life of the 1920s and '30s. He also made important contributions as an avant-garde filmmaker in the 1920s.
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Any of various floating, warm-water marine cnidarians (genus Physalia, class Hydrozoa) found worldwide but mostly in the Gulf Stream and the Indian and Pacific oceans. The medusa-form body consists of a translucent, jellylike, gas-filled float, which may be 3–12 in. (9–30 cm) long. Polyps beneath the float bear hanging tentacles up to 165 ft (50 m) long. Nematocysts on some polyps paralyze fish and other prey. Other polyps then attach to, spread over, and digest the victim. A third type of polyp is involved in reproduction. The painful sting of Physalia can cause fever, shock, or disruption of heart and lung function.
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Forgery of human fossil remains that impeded early 20th-century progress in the study of human evolution. The apparently fossilized skull found at Piltdown Common near Lewes, Eng., was first proposed as a new species of prehistoric man (“Piltdown man”) in 1912. Only in 1954 was the skull shown to consist of a human cranium skillfully joined to the jaw of an orangutan. The hoax may have been perpetrated by the skull's discoverer, Charles Dawson, though evidence discovered in the 1970s suggests a British Museum staff member, Martin A.C. Hinton.
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Island, in the Irish Sea off the northwestern coast of England. Area: 221 sq mi (572 sq km). Population (2002 est.): 76,900. It is a self-governing crown possession of Britain, with its own legislature. The popularly elected House of Keys constitutes one of the most ancient legislative assemblies in the world. Capital: Douglas (pop., 2001: 25,347). The island is about 30 mi (48 km) long and 10 mi (16 km) wide. The Manx breed of tailless cats is believed to have originated there. The isle was home to Irish missionaries beginning in the 5th century AD. It was held by the Norse (9th–13th centuries), Scots (13th–14th centuries), and English settlers (from the 14th century). It was made a crown possession in 1828.
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Prestigious British award given annually to a full-length novel. It was established in 1968 by the multinational company Booker McConnell as a counterpart to the French Prix Goncourt. The Booker Prize Foundation administers the prize, aided by an advisory committee. Entries, which are nominated by publishers, must be written by an English-language author from the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth countries, Ireland, or South Africa. Its winners have included Kingsley Amis, A.S. Byatt, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, and Salman Rushdie. In 1992 a Booker Russian Novel Prize was introduced.
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People, many of Juchen ancestry, who acquired a Manchu identity in the 17th century before conquering Ming China and forming the Qing dynasty (1644–1911/12). Though official policy aimed to maintain the Manchu as a distinct people, this did not prevent considerable intermarriage and adoption of Chinese customs in areas of maximum contact with Chinese. China today recognizes the Manchu as a distinct ethnic group; its more than 10 million members live mainly in northeastern China.
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Common name of fossilized
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Island, in the Irish Sea off the northwestern coast of England. Area: 221 sq mi (572 sq km). Population (2002 est.): 76,900. It is a self-governing crown possession of Britain, with its own legislature. The popularly elected House of Keys constitutes one of the most ancient legislative assemblies in the world. Capital: Douglas (pop., 2001: 25,347). The island is about 30 mi (48 km) long and 10 mi (16 km) wide. The Manx breed of tailless cats is believed to have originated there. The isle was home to Irish missionaries beginning in the 5th century AD. It was held by the Norse (9th–13th centuries), Scots (13th–14th centuries), and English settlers (from the 14th century). It was made a crown possession in 1828.
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