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It's a bit contrarian to make up your own taxonomy. No one calls a colony of ants, humans, bees, etc. a single animal. And in all of your examples, the separate
by bmitc 2y ago
It's a bit contrarian to make up your own taxonomy. No one calls a colony of ants, humans, bees, etc. a single animal. And in all of your examples, the separate animals are nearly clones of each other, anatomically speaking. That isn't the case with the man o'war.
- lisper 2y ago> That isn't the case with the man o'war. Yes, it is: "How this happens: when a Physalia egg is fertilized, it starts dividing, like every other fertilized egg. But pretty quickly it breaks apart into two and then more distinct embryos — genetically identical, but physically separate."
- bmitc 2y agoI said anatomically.
- lisper 2y agoSorry, I saw "clone" and thought you were talking about genetics. But you're wrong about anatomy too. There is a lot of variation in morphology between different insect types in a colony. https://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Caste_Terminology https://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Caste_Terminology
- KineticLensman 2y ago>> There is a lot of variation in morphology between different insect types in a colony Bees in a hive change their role (e.g. nursery, house-keeping, defence, food gathering) depending on their age but all these roles have the same morphology, unlike castes in ants.
- lisper 2y agoQueens look different. But your point is well taken. I guess I should stick to ants and termites as examples.