fossilesque@mander.xyzM to Science Memes@mander.xyzEnglish · 7 months agoWhales is whalesmander.xyzimagemessage-square48fedilinkarrow-up1349arrow-down115
arrow-up1334arrow-down1imageWhales is whalesmander.xyzfossilesque@mander.xyzM to Science Memes@mander.xyzEnglish · 7 months agomessage-square48fedilink
minus-squareWIZARD POPE💫@lemmy.worldlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up1·7 months agoBut manatees are sea cows
minus-squareangrystego@lemmy.worldlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up2·7 months agoThey are called sea cows, but they’re really sea elephants? I hope I’m not terribly wrong.
minus-squareWIZARD POPE💫@lemmy.worldlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up1·7 months agoWhy elephants? I mean whales are not cows just by looking at what they eat. In that way manatees eating mostly sea plants are closer to being cows. Are they not?
minus-squareshuzukolinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up3·7 months agoI think it’s a joke about manatees having evolved from the same land-based ancestor as elephants, making them pretty literally “sea elephants”.
minus-squareangrystego@lemmy.worldlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up3·7 months agoYes, I was referring to the evolutionary aspects, not the ecological ones :)
minus-squareWIZARD POPE💫@lemmy.worldlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up3·7 months agoInteresting. Just like the actual closest living relative to the elephant looks like a malnourished beaver
But manatees are sea cows
They are called sea cows, but they’re really sea elephants? I hope I’m not terribly wrong.
Why elephants? I mean whales are not cows just by looking at what they eat. In that way manatees eating mostly sea plants are closer to being cows. Are they not?
I think it’s a joke about manatees having evolved from the same land-based ancestor as elephants, making them pretty literally “sea elephants”.
Yes, I was referring to the evolutionary aspects, not the ecological ones :)
Interesting. Just like the actual closest living relative to the elephant looks like a malnourished beaver