• FortyTwo@lemmy.world
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    10 days ago

    Slightly off-topic from the intended point, but I’ve heard this more often, that there’s no such thing as a fish, but it’s a useful constructed concept to have.

    So why is it so important that we all remember that animals like whales are not fish, they’re mammals? Didn’t stop us from calling animals from other groups fish, why should mammals get a special treatment?

    • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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      10 days ago

      The point is to emphasize that whales biologies are significantly different from other similar-looking things, not technicalities about which named group they belong to.

    • Droechai@lemm.ee
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      10 days ago

      Because mammals got those mammaries. So deeply rooted that humans can’t stop putting them even on non-mammals when we want to anthropomorphise in stories, myths and art