DailyDirt: Nature Doesn't Play By Our Rules...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Biology does whatever it can do, and it's usually pretty messy about it. Just when people think they've figured out a nice hierarchical system for classifying plants and animals and microscopic organisms, we find out that there's more going on and some things aren't as clear cut as we thought. We could divide up life into several kingdoms and/or three domains, but taxonomy isn't getting simpler with time. Life is a continuous spectrum that can't be separated easily, and classifications could become even more complicated in the future. If you thought a platypus was weird, check out a few of these creatures. After you've finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.
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Filed Under: algae, biology, chloroplast, coywolf, dna, evolution, genome, life, nature, sacoclossan, tardigrade, taxonomy


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  1. identicon
    Pixelation, 28 Jan 2016 @ 5:49pm

    " and hopefully these animals aren't related to Michael Corvin"

    Hmmm, Werecoywolfpire...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. icon
    JoeCool (profile), 28 Jan 2016 @ 6:03pm

    On the contrary

    Life is a continuous spectrum that can't be separated easily, and classifications could become even more complicated in the future.


    It's EASY to separate life into classes: plants, animals, and "other"... where "other" is virtually always microscopic and of no interest to anyone other than scientists who are happy when you yell "NEEEERRRRRRDDDDDDD!" at them.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Mr Big Content, 28 Jan 2016 @ 6:28pm

    These Creatures Are The Delusional Figments Of Evolutionist Conspiratorians

    This is what happens when you start believing in Evolution: you get tormented by inconceivable nightmare monsters like these. Better to stick with simpler, more plausible Intelligent Design. Then Biology actually makes logical Sence. Such creatures never existed in teh Bible! And thats where they should stay!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Pixelation, 28 Jan 2016 @ 10:28pm

    Tardigrade, hmmm... sounds like a time lord.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. icon
    musterion (profile), 29 Jan 2016 @ 7:53am

    So, what is a species?

    If dog, wolf, and coyote can interbreed and produce fertile offspring how are they different species, and not simply variants of the same species? A wolf, a coyote, and a German Shepard look a whole lot more like similar animals that a German Shepard and a Dachshund.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Jan 2016 @ 9:47am

    Re: So, what is a species?

    Not sure about coyotes, but there's no distinction between dogs and wolves. Dogs are wolves, the product of millennia of selective breeding to make them a bit cuter and less vicious. Even poodles, one of the smallest, cutest, and least "wolf-like" of dog breeds, have been successfully interbred with normal wolves.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. icon
    MondoGordo (profile), 29 Jan 2016 @ 11:42am

    Ummm yeah

    Biologically speaking, a species is the major subdivision of a genus or subgenus, regarded as the basic category of biological classification, composed of related individuals that resemble one another, are able to breed among themselves, but are not able to breed with members of another species.

    "Breeding" implies producing fertile offspring.

    Therefore by definition if these "coywolves" are fertile, then they wolves and coyotes are not separate species .

    It would seem the taxonomists labeling coyotes "canus latrans" rather than "canis lupus" was biologically speaking at least, incorrect.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. icon
    Michael Ho (profile), 29 Jan 2016 @ 4:11pm

    Re: Ummm yeah

    The term 'species' is actually not well defined by biologists....

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species_problem

    link to this | view in thread ]


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