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Amphibians are members of a group of tetrapod (4-legged) vertebrate animals derived from fishes, and are the common ancestor to mammals and reptiles.

The nighthawk is a medium-sized bird of the goatsucker family (Caprimulgidae).

The political boundaries that are of concern to Canada today are the international boundaries primarily with the US and Greenland and, because they are of more than local importance, the boundaries of the provinces and territories. The evolution of both types involved 2 distinct stages. After political decisions were made on the allocation of territory, such territories were delimited and the boundaries described in state documents. Then, usually some time later, the boundaries were surveyed and marked on the ground (the process of demarcation).

Between about 100 000 and 12 000 years ago, the whole area of Québec as well as a major part of the northern hemisphere was covered with a thick layer of ice. In the late PLEISTOCENE era, just over 12 000 years ago, Québec underwent a gradual warming of the atmosphere.

Ice-Worm is a common name for Mesenchytraeus solifugus, a dark-pigmented oligochaete worm (see Annelida) up to 4 cm long, found in tangled masses in the melting ice of glaciers in the Pacific Northwest.

An iceberg is a piece of ice that has become detached from its parent glacier by a process known as calving.

Hydro-Québec, a provincially owned corporation based in Montréal, is Canada's largest electric utility and, judged by assets ($30.6 billion in 1986), Canada's second largest corporation.

Early formed, dense crystals may separate from the magma, causing a change in the composition of the residual melt.

The osprey (Pandion haliaetus) is a large, cosmopolitan bird of prey characterized by a crested head and contrasting black, white and grey plumage.

Humane societies are societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals (SPCA). Following a long struggle by Richard Martin, British landowner and parliamentarian, and others to secure legislation against cruelty to children and livestock, the first SPCA was begun in England in 1824.

Indian Pipe (Monotropa uniflora), a perennial plant, is the only native species of genus Monotropa found in Canada.

Invertebrates are animals without a vertebral column (backbone). As a group, invertebrates are extremely diverse.

Mountain Ash (Sorbus) are a genus of small trees or shrubs of the rose family (Rosaceae), consisting of perhaps 100 species distributed in temperate Eurasia and North America.

Hawthorn, small, deciduous tree or shrub of genus Crataegus, family Rosaceae (rose).

The gull (Laridae) family consists of long-winged, web-footed birds containing 2 subfamilies: Larinae and Sterninae.

Grayling is the common name for freshwater fishes of class Actinopterygii, family Salmonidae (salmon), subfamily Thymallinae (sometimes elevated to family rank).

Groundhog, see MARMOT.

Greenstone, general term for dark green, compact metamorphic rocks formed by the alteration of dark-coloured IGNEOUS ROCKS. Basalt, a common example, is a major component of the greenstone belts of the Canadian SHIELD. These belts contain the Shield's principal GOLD and base-metal mines.

Groundwater interacts with lakes and rivers as part of the hydrologic cycle. The cycle begins with the formation of clouds through evaporation from the ocean, lakes, rivers, plants and soil.

The great auk (Pinguinus impennis), the largest and only flightless auk, is extinct.