Comments by "Ginny Jolly" (@ginnyjollykidd) on "The Humans That Lived Before Us" video.

  1. The fact that taxonomists define amphibians as separate species shows that they consider reptiles and amphibians separate families. Amphibians: 3-chambered hearts, takes in significant O2 from skin. Must breed in water with bare, uncovered eggs. Reptiles: take in O2 through lungs only. 4-chambered hearts with no mixing of unoxygenated blood with oxygenated blood. They have sex without exposing gametes to danger. They lay eggs on land and are independent of bodies of water. These are all reasons these divisions I of amphibians and reptiles are defined so.
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  2. There have always been the taxonomic lumpers and splitters. I don't think that'll change, but the tension between them does help us understand the taxonomic tree. My thought is that we'll have to start again. Maybe not completely at the common ancestor, but far enough back to redefine what it means to be human. I like the idea of including all of these other species into the genus that is currently called Homo. And we might find subspecies like Homo sapiens sapiens is. Where is Cro magnon, then? Is it just assumed as the direct ancestor of current humans? (question 1) I think the study of human origins continues to be a fascinating study, especially what each species was capable of. That's my second "question" : to delve further into Human ancestors and cousins' lives. Some of those artists' renderings are quite handsome, and I wonder if such handsome characteristics found their way into our genome. (question 3) And it would be interesting to define what characteristics were sought in these species to pass on: their definitions of beauty? The figure of robustness? Strong arms and legs? Shorter arms to be able to wield weapons more easily? I'll stop here with my questions. Feel free to answer these and others I haven't asked. 😉
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  3. I'd like to see a video on Australian marsupials, too!
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  4. Okay, according to Vocabulary.com, " herpetologist A herpetologist is someone who specializes in the study of reptiles and amphibians. If it slithers around on its belly, a herpetologist will know what it is." So it is different from a "reptologist" or an "amphibologist." and all 3 are different from biology even as zoology and botany are different from biology. Got it.
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  5. "The word  herpetologist comes from the Greek root herpeton meaning "creeping animal." When a herpetologist goes out searching for reptiles and amphibians, he is herping, or peeking under rocks and in the mud, hoping to find a slithery creature lingering there. What will he find? Turtles, snakes, alligators, salamanders, etc. These reptiles and amphibians are a herpetologist's forte." Fun. herp herp herp
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  6.  @ryantab  And yet people with weak, inbred illnesses like haemiphilia still have offspring, like Czar Nicholas 's family. And royalty from all over Eurasia intermarried, creating more offspring with haemophilia. And so on. And people with Down Syndrome also have children. And more. People with inbred traits and chromosomic defects as well as defects caused by outside chemicals like Dexadrine and Thalidomide are all still fully capable of passing on their genes to the next generation and the next.
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  7. That's how we GET new species to begin with.
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  8.  @cloudpoint0  Got it. The term came my younger years of education (1970's) and I didn't really know why it went out of use
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  9. Abs eyebrows. And differently - shaped fingers. And smaller breastbones. And teeth.
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