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Humans and dolphins. None of the "whales" mentioned (orcas and pilot whales) are actually whales, they're both dolphins.

by devinj 16y ago

adamc 16y ago
Technically, they are members of Odontoceti, the "Toothed Whales", which include dolphins. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odontoceti http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odontoceti
- bombs 16y ago
  They're members of the delphinidae family (ocean dolphins), which are a member of odontoceti.
dgabriel 16y ago
Dolphins aren't whales?
- Goladus 16y ago
  Dolphins belong to suborder Odontoceti, which is a whale suborder. So yes, Dolphins are whales. However, in common naming, people generally call things in the Delphinidae family "Dolphins" and whales not in that family "Whales." Orcas are an exception to this pattern, they're in the family Delphinidae but are called whales.
- bitwize 16y ago
  Dolphins are whales like humans are apes. Although you will probably just get confusion by speaking of dolphins as a subset of the whale taxon, and not bristling at the thought by a majority of Americans like you would the human/ape relationship.
jacksoncarter 16y ago
This kind of response is part of why hackers have such a difficult time in social groups. That it is upvoted 7 times really drives the point home. The article isn't at all about whale nomenclature. It's about an observation of the world around us and a discovery that may explain it. Yet, this comment has nothing to do with that discovery and only "nitpicks" some superficial detail wholey irrelevant to the discussion. It throws everyone off track with something that doesn't matter -- at all. It's a semantic debate and it detracts from the conversation. It's annoying and it's why "normals" don't like to talk with hackers. For the record, some people believe dolphins are whales, and some don't: http://www.ftexploring.com/askdrg/askdrgalapagos4.html http://www.ftexploring.com/askdrg/askdrgalapagos4.html
- roqetman 16y ago
  I agree, but the article didn't contain any actual research figures, just a few suppositions (which made the inaccuracy stand out).
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
- devinj 16y ago
  Okiedoke. I wasn't doing anything except throwing an interesting tidbit out there. Personally, I find the whale/dolphin distinction (or lack thereof) fairly interesting. So I shared it. Your comment added more interesting information to the mix. I believe this sharing of information that is related to the post is what comments are for, and I think it's a worthy use of them. It's especially what threaded comments are for. See, I can't derail a whole conversation-- I can just lead a small subthread away from the main flow. So, I figured this was an OK comment to post on Hacker News.

Humans and dolphins. None of the "whales" mentioned (orcas and pilot whales) are actually whales, they're both dolphins.

by devinj 16y ago

Humans and dolphins. None of the "whales" mentioned (orcas and pilot whales) are actually whales, they're both dolphins.

adamc 16y ago

Technically, they are members of Odontoceti, the "Toothed Whales", which include dolphins. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odontoceti http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odontoceti

bombs 16y ago
They're members of the delphinidae family (ocean dolphins), which are a member of odontoceti.

dgabriel 16y ago

Dolphins aren't whales?

Goladus 16y ago
Dolphins belong to suborder Odontoceti, which is a whale suborder. So yes, Dolphins are whales. However, in common naming, people generally call things in the Delphinidae family "Dolphins" and whales not in that family "Whales." Orcas are an exception to this pattern, they're in the family Delphinidae but are called whales.
bitwize 16y ago
Dolphins are whales like humans are apes. Although you will probably just get confusion by speaking of dolphins as a subset of the whale taxon, and not bristling at the thought by a majority of Americans like you would the human/ape relationship.

jacksoncarter 16y ago

This kind of response is part of why hackers have such a difficult time in social groups. That it is upvoted 7 times really drives the point home. The article isn't at all about whale nomenclature. It's about an observation of the world around us and a discovery that may explain it. Yet, this comment has nothing to do with that discovery and only "nitpicks" some superficial detail wholey irrelevant to the discussion. It throws everyone off track with something that doesn't matter -- at all. It's a semantic debate and it detracts from the conversation. It's annoying and it's why "normals" don't like to talk with hackers. For the record, some people believe dolphins are whales, and some don't: http://www.ftexploring.com/askdrg/askdrgalapagos4.html http://www.ftexploring.com/askdrg/askdrgalapagos4.html

roqetman 16y ago
I agree, but the article didn't contain any actual research figures, just a few suppositions (which made the inaccuracy stand out).
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
devinj 16y ago
Okiedoke. I wasn't doing anything except throwing an interesting tidbit out there. Personally, I find the whale/dolphin distinction (or lack thereof) fairly interesting. So I shared it. Your comment added more interesting information to the mix. I believe this sharing of information that is related to the post is what comments are for, and I think it's a worthy use of them. It's especially what threaded comments are for. See, I can't derail a whole conversation-- I can just lead a small subthread away from the main flow. So, I figured this was an OK comment to post on Hacker News.