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I agree that Homo sapiens sapiens is a subspecies of Homo sapiens. I think that Neandertals were strictly speaking the same species as modern humans, meaning that they could have interbred to produce viable offspring. In fact at my college, I am convinced that some of the Neandertals on the football team were attempting this feat.
I had never thought of "Homo sapiens" meaning "self-aware" though. What an interesting thought.
I had never thought of "Homo sapiens" meaning "self-aware" though. What an interesting thought.
Interesting, but ... ? Does this imply that homo neandertalis (or neanderthalis) was not? Depends on that extra sapiens, I suppose!
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
I may be way out in left field here but could the expression 'homo sapiens sapiens' be the same type of descriptive as when we say a particular guy is a real 'man's man'? As in the person is archetypical of what a man is.
In response to Wordwind's question:In reply to:You wouldn't happen to know what Homo sapiens sapiens, in an attempt to relinquish a little brain power and substitute it with a good dose of heart power, would be called could he become "Homo sapiens 'feeling,'" would you?
Though affectus actually translates better, I think sentiens has more of the right connotations and connections with other fields. For example, there is a perennial disagreement in science fiction as to whether we are looking for other sentient life forms or sapient life forms, if we're looking for those that are human-like.
Sentire means 'to feel', but by extension also 'to be self-aware'. I've often wondered how sapiens 'tasting' came to mean 'wise' -- I can only think it's because the wise were those who had 'good taste.' Maybe the distinction is just that the homines sapientes cooked their food? Grits for the mill, anyway.
!!???!!! That was hippopositively a word-windmill!
The system of taxonomic classification:
Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species, variety.
Plants and animals are usually classified according to their body structure.
Humans are in the animal kingdom, chordate phylum, mammal class, primate order, homo genus, homo sapiens species.
Kingdoms are: plants, animals, monera (bacteria, algae), protista (amoebas, protozoa), and fungi.
Phyla (frequently called divisions in the plant kingdom) include the arthropods, the mollusks, and the chordates (animals which have a central nerve, such as the spinal column; humans are in the subphylum vertebrates).
Classes include mammals, insects, and reptiles.
Orders include carnivores (dogs and cats), and primates (humans, monkeys and apes).
Families include homonides (humans), and felidae (lions, tigers, house cats)
Genus further breaks down families, so that wolves and dogs are in the same genus (canis).
Species are the smallest standard unit of biological classification, consisting of closely related, interbreeding living things. Species can be divided into varieties, races, breeds, or subspecies.
Here is a site devoted to curiousities of biological nomenclature, including puns and wordplay.
http://www.best.com/~atta/taxonomy.html
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