Posted by:
ChrisAnderson
at Mon Nov 8 20:39:44 2004 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by ChrisAnderson ]
>>"Herps" are reptiles and amphibians right? Who decided on this group herps and why? What exactly is it supposed to mean? I ask because while reptiles are amniotes(lay eggs with semipermeable protective membranes to keep in moisture, ect), amphibians are not. Reptiles are more closely related to birds and mammals (both of which really are reptiles) than amphibians.
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>>So why herps? Is this some old-school classification from before relationships were figured out as they are now?
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>>~Melissa
>>1.0 Ambanja Panther (Diesel)
>>0.1 African Hegdehog (Kaimah)
Actually, mammals aren't really reptiles at all. Birds are phylogenetically in Reptilia as members of the Archosauria clade but Mammalia is basal to the Reptilia divergence within Amniota (Reptilia and Mammalia are both Amniota but they are seperate branches within it with Mammalia and Reptilia being distinct of eachother beyond that point). As far as herps, I don't have the answer to that question but my feeling is it has to do with older classification methods and simply grouping of the study of two rather primative Chordates that tend to often be studied in conjunction.
Chris
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Chris Anderson
parsonii_hoehnelii@hotmail.com
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RE: Question for you smarty-pantses. - ChrisAnderson, Mon Nov 8 20:39:44 2004