Alien, I mean really Alien.

[dogscoff]

Animal, Plant, or Fungi

I'm pretty sure there are a number of microscopic squidgies that fit into none of the above, kind of the way a duck billed platypus doesn't sit happily as either mammal, bird or reptile. I think amoebas and protozoa are somewhere between fungus and animal, for instance. Bacteria and virii might be others. It's a long time since i had to know these things...

[Puke]

hey, mollusk seems to exist at both the class and phylum level, what gives? thats what i get for using the Internet as a source of information...

[dogscoff]

should we come up with a new clasification method based on DNA, rather than whaever observational methods we were using when we developed the current method? Id wager its at least a hundred years old, possibly two or three.

Yeah, stuff is being recategorised all the time as DAN information comes to light.

For instance, rabbits used to be rodents, but now they're not. They go into a group with hares.

[ March 25, 2004, 15:49: Message edited by: dogscoff ]

[Parasite]

Originally posted by Randallw:
What sort of real Aliens are there in Fiction. ... What I want to read of is real Aliens.

Please try Jack L. Chalker's "Well of Souls" books. There is a planet sectioned off. Each section has it's own race of aliens. They are alien and act alien. He was my favorite author for a long time because of the alien viewpoints he creates.

JLC's web page

[ March 25, 2004, 15:57: Message edited by: Parasite ]

[Loser]

The platypus sits well as a mammal, as it has mammaries. It's not a 'placental' mammal, it is instead a 'monotreme', and is only one of three known species of monotremes.

hmm... shouldn't talk science without a spellcheck, but I will anyway.

[Baron Munchausen]

Originally posted by dogscoff:

quote:

---

Animal, Plant, or Fungi

I'm pretty sure there are a number of microscopic squidgies that fit into none of the above, kind of the way a duck billed platypus doesn't sit happily as either mammal, bird or reptile. I think amoebas and protozoa are somewhere between fungus and animal, for instance. Bacteria and virii might be others. It's a long time since i had to know these things...

---

They are constantly tinkering with the system, but currently (I think) there are five 'kingdoms'.

Animals, Plants, Fungi, Prokaryotes, and Protists

Yes, the Last two are microscopic organisms only.

[Fyron]

Actually... I think the consensus amongst the biological community is that there are at least 7 kingdoms now, one of which is halobacterium. The stuff that lives in moisture on top of really high salt content salt flats and such.