Discovery & Invention, Period 5, 23 Jan '08

[offthelisthero.livejournal.com]

"Good afternoon," Mohinder greeted the class from his position at the front of the room. "I hope you've completely recovered from the effects of the weekend."

"This planet alone contains a fascinating array of biological organisms. Current estimates are of some nine million, of which humans - Homo sapiens sapiens - are only a small fraction."

"What makes a fish a fish? What difference is there between a rose and a lily? How can we tell? Animal, vegetable or mineral? The taxonomy of species acknowledges the evolutionary history of an organism, but also tells us about what makes them unique, what makes them special." Mohinder continued on into a digression on species classification.

"How would you classify some of Fandom's more unusual examples of wildlife - the gremlins or teal deer for example?" asked Mohinder. He pointed at the photographs on the desks - different moddable plants and animals. "Systems of organisations are only used as long as they're useful to us. How would you classify these - which are closely related or complete strangers?"

[OCD is up!]