10,000 Birds

AUGUST 19, 2014

Whales are cows. In other words, the group of mammals that includes all the monkeys, which is rather large (and not accurately defined because I’ve not said what a “monkey” is … am I including lemurs?) The point is, of course, that whales are not cows. You should have said whales. Even though whales are cows.

Camels 196

Camels Whales Whaling Apes 196

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2018

There are important details within that dictum that we will ignore here, but this has to do with knowing when a characteristic doesn’t really tell you about the relative position of species on a “tree of life” vs when the characteristic works for that purpose. Rather, cladistics is a way of looking at the process of evolution of species.

Monkeys 134

Monkeys Gorillas Whales Whaling 134

10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2011

But that is because we often have the relationship between dinosaurs and birds reversed in our little primate minds; Much of what is bird-like is not exclusive to birds, but rather, to a larger group of dinosaurs. Among mammals, bipedalism is found in several rodents, a number of marsupials, and one primate.

Birds 268

Birds Marsupials Primates Whaling 268