Delaware students can now choose their own race (Yes, RACE!) under new regulations.

[Final-Fan]

o_O.Q said:

Final-Fan said:

Compare the things penguins have to the things dolphins have.  Then sea turtles.  Now compare the things penguins have to the things ducks have.  Which is more different?  Or if you don't like the clear answer eyeballs can give then you can turn to expert opinion ... Do Penguins have Wings?  (Hint: flippers)

I don't think you'll find that he made the blanket assertion that there exist no groups into which animals can be sorted.  He's saying that there are a lot of everyday groupings that on close scientific examination actually have fuzzy gray areas for borders.  Additionally, he's saying that through "common descent", there is no sudden breakpoint where whales popped into existence where no such creature existed before; it was all gradual differences and thus Ancestor Species A and Descendant Species B is just a human distinction when the millions of generations are collectively just a relatively smooth transition.  There was never a female clearly of species A (not B) that gave birth to a baby clearly of species B (not A). 

None of the above has any resemblance to "elephants swimming with fish" which, if true, is meaningless to the discussion; and, if false, is also meaningless to the discussion. 

I ask you again:  what was the point of your question, "why don't elephants swim with fish in schools?"

penguins have adapted wings, they do not have the same type of fins or flippers that dolphins or other aquatic animals have

"I don't think you'll find that he made the blanket assertion that there exist no groups into which animals can be sorted."

that is exactly what he said, go back and read his posts before you get involved and that is exactly why i responded in the way i did

1.  But you didn't call what dolphins have "paws" or "feet" or "legs".  You called them "fins or flippers".  If you do that, then you should not, I argue, call what penguins have "wings".  They adapted from wings, and from legs, into something that is different from wings or legs, but which is very similar to what the other aquatic species developed.  We (both you and I) call these fins or flippers. 

Let me put it this way:  Scientists believe that bats evolved from land-dwelling mammals.  Should we call what they use to fly "legs" because they were legs before they were wings, even though they are flying around on them?  Penguins used to have wings.  They evolved to have flippers.  Ostriches have vestigial wings because they apparently didn't need to fly anymore.  All they do now with them is balance and send social cues.  Penguins don't have vestigial wings.  They have a new thing that they use to move through the water instead of through the air.  They have flippers. 

2.  I did go back and read what he said.  What I found was not what you said, but something that I thought could potentially have been misinterpreted by a careless reader into something within a mile or two of what you said.  But I have been wrong before and I will be wrong in the future, and you can prove me wrong now:  go back and find the exact quote that is "exactly" the blanket assertion that there exist no groups into which animals can be sorted, and let me know what you find. 

3.  I ask you again:  what was the point of your question, "why don't elephants swim with fish in schools?"