Science Speak
Boost your science vocabulary!
Science has a language all its own that researchers use to describe and characterize the systems that we study. On this page we’ll define the scientific terms that we use in our posts, and in our every day lives as scientist. Learning these words will help you think like a scientist, and talk like one too!
Benthic: referring to the bottom of a body of water, like the ocean, and the organisms that live there. At MLML, students in our Benthic Ecology Lab study organisms and processes occurring in the sea floor, ranging from the tropics to the poles.
Biomechanics: the study of how animals work. Scientists often use the term “Comparative Biomechanics” to separate the biological use of the term from its medical use, and to convey that this field is interested in structural and functional differences among organisms, and the performance consequences of those differences, typically the scheme of evolution.
Ecomorphology: see Functional Morphology.
Functional Morphology: the study of structures in animal bodies, and how those structures work (like how wings produce lift in birds, and how changing a wing’s shape will in turn change lift production). Related science words: morphology, ecomorphology, and biomechanics.
Ichthyology: the study of fishes (from the Greek word ichthyós, which means “fish”). At MLML, students in our Ichthyology Lab study bony fishes, sharks, skates, rays and chimaeras.
Morphology: the structure, shape, or overall appearance of an organism or its parts, and the study of such structures (from the Greek word morphe, which means “shape” or “form.” Like those shape-shifting Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers…). Although similar to the word “anatomy,” which is like an inventory of an animal’s parts, the term “morphology” also captures the inherent qualities of those parts.
Phycology: the study of seaweeds. At MLML, students in our Phycology Lab study seaweeds (also called “macroalgae”), such as kelp.
