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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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These vertebrate animals are attached to a surface and have a branched structure, hence zoophyte, literally animal plant, from Modern Latin zoophyton, from Greek zoophyton, from zoo- (animal) + phyton (plant).]
Shouldn't that be "invertebrate," if in reference to sponges?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
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Have some back bone, man!
don't ask, state, There has been a typo, and it should say "invertebrate," if it is a reference to sponges
sorry alex--could help but chide you to have back bone in this context!
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
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>>invertebrate<<
Perhaps not -- (from Webster's unabridged):
2. The elastic fibrous skeleton of many species of horny Spongi[ae] (keratosa), used for many purposes, especially the varieties of the genus Spongia. The most valuable sponges are found in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, and on the coasts of Florida and the West Indies.
Apparently a skeleton need not be calciferous (?)
following the 'keratosa' clue:
\Ker"a*tin\, n. [Gr. ke`ras, -atos, horn.] (Physiol. Chem.) A nitrogenous substance, or mixture of substances, containing sulphur in a loose state of combination, and forming the chemical basis of epidermal tissues, such as horn, hair, feathers, and the like. It is an insoluble substance, and, unlike elastin, is not dissolved even by gastric or pancreatic juice. By decomposition with sulphuric acid it yields leucin and tyrosin, as does albumin.
missing link to:
scleroprotein: a simple protein found in horny and cartilaginous tissues and in the lens of the eye.
Apparently, a skeleton can consist only of cartilage.
Dr. Bill?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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and why is this an insult, if not for being spineless?
formerly known as etaoin...
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old hand
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old hand
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Posts: 771 |
I think it points more to "You may be an animal, but that doesn't mean you're sentient", as Dorothy Parker probably woulda said it...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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from the Bartleby link: A member of the subphylum Vertebrata, a primary division of the phylum Chordata that includes the fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, all of which are characterized by a segmented spinal column and a distinct well-differentiated head.
sponges got heads??
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I don't remember ever before seeing a typo in "Today's Word"
posts. So Alex asked a rhetorical question. I'm not sure
about what may be called a "skeleton". The stiffening structure in some zoophytes might qualify for the term.
But the URL Faldage gave shows that "vertebra" implies segmentation and flexibility. Notochords as in the lamprey eels are flexible, but not segemented.
Let us not bite the hand that has fed us so many interesting
words and provides the site to discuss them.
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veteran
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veteran
Joined: Jan 2004
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From the A-H definition of sponge: "Any of numerous aquatic, chiefly marine invertebrate animals of the phylum Porifera, characteristically having a porous skeleton composed of fibrous material or siliceous or calcareous spicules and often forming irregularly shaped colonies attached to an underwater surface." So phylum Porifera, not Chordata. Seems like it was a typo
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