Yes this! I hate when people say biology supports their trans/homo/ect. phobia when in reality it absolutely does not
i don’t think transphobes are educated enough to know frog biology. and if they are they suffer from a “humans are not animals” kind of mentality and put humanity on a pedestal of not being like the other girls living beings on this planet
Taxonomy isn’t biology, though. It’s a man-made classification system. And at the species level it’s much closer to binary definitions than spectrums. So maybe not the best analogy to make.
As is gender:
A man-made classification system
So I’d say it fits perfectly
But taxonomy aims (even though it sometimes fails) to classify organisms into rigid categories, which is exactly the thing you want to avoid with gender, right?
Until you start to use evolution. What a species is, begins to blur as soon as you try to establish evolutionary lines. When is a whale not a whale but just a water enthusiast mammal? somewhere between 50 and 35 million years ago. Exactly when, it’s anyone’s guess. Taxonomy is indeed part of biology, though.
What a species is, begins to blur as soon as you try to establish evolutionary lines.
It doesn’t because “species” is definied as an animal that can have fertile offspring with other members of it’s species. Looking at evolution doesn’t change that definition, it just shows that it’s not a very good definition on an evolutionary timescale. Our concept of species in taxonomy only makes sense within small timeframes.
When is a whale not a whale but just a water enthusiast mammal?
First we have to establish what you mean by “whale” and translate that to the proper order/clade. Then you look at what was the first described fossile in the group is. And that’s your answer. And yes, that answer will change with new fossil discoveries or reclassifications based on other information happen. But as long as you keep up to date with them, the current way we use taxonomy gives quite binary definitions of the majority of lifeforms.
Taxonomy is indeed part of biology, though.
It sure is. But it’s just an arbitrary classification system within the greater field. It is like an “index”, so you can look up what information belongs to the thing you’re looking at. But it doesn’t actually hold much information about biology of the thing itself.
Taxonomically speaking, the first whale was the last common ancestor of all (modern) whales, whether this was a land dweller or already aquatic isn’t important from a taxonomic point of view
I’m not quite sure how you got there, but you can check my reply to dustyData in this thread. I think that should clear up your question.
Attention! Turn back. Going into these comments can bring you nothing of happiness. You can just look up the “tumblr reading comprehension” meme instead of needing to see the gory details of it in action.
Gender: fish
The world is a wonderful place, and far too wide to need to conform to your pet theory.
I have a theory that you’re all my pets. So you will conform, or you won’t get a treat.
I have a theory that you’re all my pets.
And I’m living off of grass, and the drippings from my ceiling It’s okay to eat fish 'cause they don’t have any feelings
Good stuff, “my friend says we’re like the dinosaurs” would also have been slick
Edit: Yes and
Diogenes strips naked and does a cannonball into the pool
“Behold! A fish!”