[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index][Subject Index][Author Index]

Re: Defining crocodiles as "fish"... :-)



Quoting "T. Michael Keesey" <keesey@gmail.com>:

On 8/21/06, Nick Pharris <npharris@umich.edu> wrote:

Though, according to phylogenetic taxonomic principles, if lampreys, sharks, salmon, and coelacanths are all "fish", then crocodiles are, too (along with aardvarks, salamanders, hummingbirds, etc....)!

Well, no, because "fish" is a vernacular term,

...which is why it is good that "fish" is not, in fact, defined phylogenetically.


--
Nick Pharris
Department of Linguistics
University of Michigan

"Creativity is the sudden cessation of stupidity."
    --Edwin H. Land