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Showing results for tags 'Taxonomy'.
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My response in the Twitterverse let me to learn that calling Makrut lime leaves , 'kaffir" is the equivalent to calling these leaves the "N word" leaves. To my ignorance, I was unknowingly casting a racial slur while describing a leaf. I must dive in and research this, and return with my findings. Did you all know this too? -
Love the "Asian, but not *too* Asian" look! NB - There's an insect named Reissa roni. -
A little primer for those who care: Both Horses and Donkeys are in the same Taxonomic Family (Equidae) and Genus (Equus) Donkeys have a Sub-Genus (Asinus) which horses do not have, and that is where they split off. A Sub-Genus is between a Genus and a Species, and to be honest with you, I really don't know what it is - I guess it's something they discovered after they had the nomenclature in place, and needed to "wedge" another level in. Anyway, that's all pretty drab stuff (not that what you're about to read will make you do somersaults): The cutoff for being an "adult" is often three-years-old, but some disciplines consider it four-years-old. This applies to all of the following: Horses A male adult horse (which has not been gelded) is called a Stallion. A male non-adult horse is called a Colt. --- A female adult horse is called a Mare. A female non-adult horse is called a Filly. --- A horse 1-2 years old is called a Yearling A horse less than 1-year-old is called a Foal (rhymes with "Goal"). --- A small horse is a Pony (a Pony is not necessarily a baby horse). Donkeys A male adult donkey (which has not been gelded) is called a "Jack" (hence the term "Jackass"). A female adult donkey is called a "Jenny." --- A small donkey is a Burro - more precisely, a Burro is a small donkey (not all small donkeys are Burros). A castrated male horse or donkey, of any age, is called a Gelding. All of that, leads to this: Hybrids A Jack mating with a Mare produces a Mule. A Stallion mating with a Jenny produces a Hinny (you can remember this because "Jenny" sounds like "Hinny"). --- Both Mules and Hinnies are sterile - they cannot breed. The reason for this is due to the number of chromosomes they inherit. A Horse has 64 chromosomes; a Donkey has 62 chromosomes. Both Mules and Hinnies have 63 chromosomes, which causes reproductive problems. A Mule gets 32 Horse chromosomes, and 31 Donkey chromosomes. A Hinny gets 32 Donkey chromosomes, and 31 Horse chromosomes. If you're interested in more in-depth information this is a good webpage: Jun 20, 2007 - "Chimeras, Mosaics, and Other Fun Stuff" on genetics.thetech.org
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The word "Pinaceae" is probably best-pronounced (in America) "pie NAY see ay" (ay rhyming with say). It's the family of trees that falls within the taxomonic hierarchy that appears on the right side of that link. I admit Frank Cook IV (*) appears to be a bit "out there" - like someone who might spend his spare time climbing rocks in Yosemite National Park - but he has a lot to say, and I like him. Pay attention: (*) Cook passed in 2009 from the parasitic disease neurocysticercosis, which caused cystic lesions in his brain. Could his death have been prevented? I don't know, but this malady is primarily a disease of the poor and the homeless, and is reportedly preventable. I don't know what, exactly, happened, but surely people are sometimes willing to die in order to live for what they believe in. Sometimes, tragically and needlessly - his death makes me sad, and I hope that we can all learn from what happened.
