type of animal

[highwayman]

What is an Xebec ?

[clarestace]

I've done a degree in Zoology and taxonomy and never heard of a Xebec before - the only references I've found say that it's a type of Spainish boat. http://www.fas.org/news/reference/probert /AF.HTM

[clarestace]

I really must find better things to do with my lunch break but I have found a reference to a Zebek on a random Star Trek Website that describes a Zebek as "The beast, much like a cross between a Terran alligator and ostrich" http://www.geocities.com/tng_relaunch/MartenRelaunchStory.ht ml

[bernardo]

I've definitely heard of a xebec - I think it's a sort-of goat or a sort-of bison or something - but I would have to check first.

[bernardo]

Google definitions said this:

xe�bec also ze�bec or ze�beck ( P ) Pronunciation Key (zbk) n. A small three-masted Mediterranean vessel with both square and lateen sails.

[French chebec, probably from Catalan xabec, from Arabic abbk, from abaka, to entwine, fasten. See bk in Semitic Roots.]

xebec
\Xe"bec\ (z[=e]"b[e^]k), n. [Sp. jabegue, formerly spelt xabeque, or Pg. xabeco; both from Turk. sumbeki a kind of Asiatic ship; cf. Per. sumbuk, Ar. sumb[=u]k a small ship.] (Naut.) A small three-masted vessel, with projecting bow stern and convex decks, used in the Mediterranean for transporting merchandise, etc. It carries large square sails, or both. Xebecs were formerly armed and used by corsairs.

So I guess I was wrong about the goat.

[Quizmonster]

In case you are definitely looking for an x-creature and have misheard or misunderstood 'xebec' for something else...all of the following are listed in Chambers Dictionary...xema (gulls), xenarthra (anteaters) and xiphias (swordfish). So, there you have creatures from each of air, land and sea. In addition, from The Oxford English Dictionary, xenopus is the name of a type of toad and xylophilus is the name of a type of wood-beetle.

[wildwood]

When I read the word xebec, the first thing that sprung to mind was a type of antelope. Although, I too, can not find anything in that area on the Net.

[bernardo]

Maybe I was thinking of a zebec?

[Lizzy]

I think Wildwood you are thinking of an Ibex, which is kind of a small antelope I believe ( and goats are not that unsimilar, Bernardo). Perhaps that's what highwayman was thinking of too?!