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DarthMetaKnight
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Joined: 16 Feb 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 6,105
Location: The Infodome

15 Feb 2018, 12:19 pm

Hi all. I just want to share another random thought.

I've noticed that biology is absolutely full of names and terms which make no sense. Here are some examples.

Dinosaur: It means "terrible lizard". Dinosaurs are not lizards, and not all of them are terrible. Chickadees are dinosaurs. Are they terrible?
Animal: The word is derived from an old word for "breath" ... even though many other organisms undergo cellular respiration, which is a form of breathing.
Basilosaurus: Despite its name, it was a mammal.
Phytosaur: They were originally assumed to be herbivores. Now it's too late to change the name.
Deinosuchus: Its name means "terrible crocodile" ... even though it was closer to alligators.
Insect: The word is Latin for "divided into sections" ... even though crustaceans are also divided into sections.
Megarachne: It has to keep its misleading name even though it was not an arachnid, but a eurypterid.

One of the oldest rules in biology is "Once you give something a name, you can't change it." Isn't it time to abandon that rule? This is starting to get out of hand.


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