The word savanna (or savannah) is borrowed through Spanish from the word zabana used by the Taino people of the Caribbean. It refers to a treeless grassland found in a hot, dry climate, such as may occur in a subtropical or tropical zone. Savanna environments often replace forested environments during periods of global warming, to be replaced by forest again during periods of global cooling.
Paleontologists sometimes attribute changes in human physiology to the environmental constraints imposed when the African jungles gradually became savannas during global warming.
Content Revised: 2006-07-14
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