Editing 867: Herpetology

{{comic
| number    = 867
| date      = March 2, 2011
| title     = Herpetology
| image     = herpetology.png
| titletext = Birds are Aves, which is part of the clade Theropoda, which is in Saurischia, which is in Dinosauria. Those birds outside our windows are dinosaurs. We can clear out the rest of our brains because we now have the best fact.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Herpetology}} is the branch of {{w|zoology}} that studies {{w|reptiles}} and {{w|amphibians}}. {{w|Ornithology}} is the branch of zoology that studies {{w|birds}}.
  
At an ornithology conference, [[Ponytail]] is using the {{w|Cladistics}} method by showing a {{w|Cladogram}} to argue that the combining of amphibians and reptiles into a single field of study is  misguided.  In terms of their {{w|Evolutionary history of life|evolutionary history}}, reptiles are more closely related to birds (and even to mammals) than to amphibians.  She states, in a patronizing way, that the study of reptiles should more properly be combined into her own field.

Herpetologists would rightly see this view as a threat to their territory, their budgets and even their existence.

The claim made by the ornithologist is fundamentally correct; the evolutionary history of those groups did actually diverge in that way. So, instead of arguing the science, [[Megan]], the presenter at the herpetology conference resorts to a personal attack on the profession of ornithology.  At their own conference, they retaliate with a chart that purports to demonstrate that ''douchebags'' and ''ornithologists'' are more closely related to each other than either are to ''nice people'', and they can therefore be grouped into an encompassing ''asshole'' classification.

Since the intent of the earlier presentation was presumably to rile herpetologists rather than achieve any particular scientific goal, this response seems appropriate.

In the title text, birds are class {{w|Aves}} which is a subset of the suborder {{w|Theropoda}} which is a subset of the order {{w|Saurischia}} and the superorder {{w|Dinosauria}}. Under the normal rules of classification, this means that all birds are technically dinosaurs.

This was also shown in more detail later in [[1211: Birds and Dinosaurs]].

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail is standing on a podium looking right while pointing behind her with a pointer stick on a sketch showing a Cladogram, i.e. a large tree split that split up several time. Starting with one line at the bottom, this splits left and right and then both continues up. The left does not split again. The right splits again in a similar way, with the right not splitting anymore. The left, now in the middle splits a final time. All four ends are at the same hight and have labels above them written at 45 degree angle. A small frame sits over the top of the panels frame. Inside there is a caption:]
:Ornithology conference:
:Ponytail: As you can see, herpetology is a silly field; reptiles are actually more closely related to birds and mammals than to amphibians. 
:Ponytail: It should really be broken up, with lizards folded into ornithology.
:Labels: 
::Amphibians 
::Reptiles 
::Birds
::Mammals

:[Megan is standing on a podium looking left while pointing behind her with a pointer stick on a sketch similar to the previous panel. Starting with one line at the bottom, this splits left and right and then both continues up. The left does not split again. The right splits again in a similar way. All three ends are at the same hight and have labels above them written at 45 degree angle. The top of the right part that split in two, including the labels has been encompassed by a dotted line which also has a label written over this line at the top left. A small frame sits over the top of the panels frame. Inside there is a caption:]
:Herpetology conference:
:Megan: As you can see, ornithologists are actually assholes.
:Labels:
::Nice people 
::Ornithologists
::Douchebags 
:Dotted-line:
::Assholes

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Public speaking]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]