Lama
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lama:
see Tibetan BuddhismTibetan Buddhism,form of Buddhism prevailing in the Tibet region of China, Bhutan, the state of Sikkim in India, Mongolia, and parts of Siberia and SW China. It has sometimes been called Lamaism, from the name of the Tibetan monks, the lamas [superior ones].
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Lama
a genus of artiodactyls of the family Camelidae. Unlike the camels, the Lama have no hump. They are comparatively small animals, measuring 120 to 175 cm long, standing 90 to 100 cm high at the shoulder, and weighing 48 to 96 kg. The legs are long and slender. The neck and ears are long and the tail, short. The woolly coat is long.
Two species are found in the wild state—the guanaco (L. guanacoe) and the vicuña (L. vicugna). Some zoologists place the vicuña in a separate genus, Vicugna. There are also domesticated Lama. Wild and domestic species of Lama in captivity can crossbreed, often yielding fertile offspring. The llama (L. glama) is a domesticated guanaco and is somewhat larger than the wild species, weighing up to 110 kg. Its coloring ranges from pure white to black, and it is often spotted. Lama are raised in Peru and Bolivia as beasts of burden; they can carry loads of up to 60 kg along mountain paths. The fleece is clipped and used to manufacture a coarse fabric. The alpaca (L. pacos), which weighs up to 80 kg, is a domesticated guanaco crossed with a vicuña; it is raised for its valuable fleece in the high Andes (at elevations of more than 3,800 m).
REFERENCES
Khaveson, la. I. “Dikie i domashnie formy verbliudovykh.” In the anthology Problemy proiskhozhdeniia, evoliutsii i porodoobrazovaniia do-mashnikh zhivotnykh, vol. 1. Moscow-Leningrad, 1940.Mammals of the World, vol. 2. Baltimore, Md., 1964.
I. I. SOKOLOV
Lama
a lake in the northwestern part of the Central Siberian Plateau, Krasnoiarsk Krai, RSFSR. The basin is of tectonic origin, and the lake extends in a latitudinal direction. Area, approximately 2,000 sq km; length, 100 km; width, approximately 20 km; depths, up to 20 m. The banks are high for the most part, reaching 400–600 m. The lake is notable for the low temperature of its water, even in the summer months.
Lama
a river in Moscow and Kalinin oblasts, RSFSR; it flows into Shosha Bay in the Ivan’kovskii Reservoir. Length, 139 km; basin area, 2,330 sq km. It is fed primarily by snow; average discharge in the middle reaches, 8.49 cu m per sec. The Lama freezes over in November and thaws in late March or early April. The ancient waterways from the Volga to the Moscow River (Volok na Lame) followed the Lama. The settlement of Volokolamsk arose on the Lama River in the 12th century.
Lama
a Buddhist monk in those countries where Lamaism is practiced.
The term first appeared in the eighth century in connection with the founding of the first monastery in Tibet and the organization of a monastic community. In Tibet originally only monks who had received a higher learned degree and the right to be teachers were called lamas. Later on, in Tibet and other countries where Lamaism spread, any person who took monastic vows came to be called a lama.