Of course, of course

Yesterday's zebra post, all of three sentences, took way too much effort. I got stuck on wanting to refer to the Grevy's zebra as the largest horse. I knew that if I did that, it would cause some discomfort among certain of my readers. But all living equids (ugh, that's so unsatisfying) are not only in the same Family (the way that foxes and dholes are in the dog Family) but they are in the same Genus (the way that wolves and coyotes are in the same genus as domestic dogs). So donkeys, domestic horses, wild asses, and zebras are all in Genus Equus, and there should be a single word to refer to them--and there is, it's Equid. No one gets upset when you refer to lions and jaguars and pumas and snow leopards as "cats."

It's complicated, and it has to do with the great closeness humans feel for domestic horses. They are to be elevated above all others in their Genus, the lowly asses and burros. And just look at the brouhaha that ensues when you suggest that they are as edible as cows.

There's also the complication of taxonomic correctness, the itchy brows that people get when you call a beetle a "bug" or a gorilla a "monkey." There's really no danger in calling a non-hemipteran a "bug" or calling a great ape a "monkey." (The animals that are "correctly" called monkeys are in two widely divergent groups that really have no business sharing a name. Why should a marmoset and a mandrill get the same common name and not share it with a siamang or a sifaka?) Calling a whale a "fish" is more egregious, as it betrays an ignorance of the animal's essence, and serves to unjustly distance the creature from its kinship to us.

I reserve the right to call a fox a "dog," an ocelot a "cat," and a zebra a "horse." To resist is to succumb to arbitrary convention, my least favorite convention.

Daily Zoo Animal: #12, Indian Peafowl

The Indian peafowl is perhaps the most beautiful of the chickens.

Ha! I kid. Actually, the pheasant family (Phasianidae) is the taxonomic group to which chickens, pheasants, turkeys, and peafowl belong. All are plump birds with attractive, colorful plumage (especially the males, or "cocks") which are often shown off in elaborate displays. They are all ground-feeding birds that forage or scavenge for seeds and other plant material and invertebrates; they typically fly into trees to roost at night. The Indian peafowl is native to the south of India, and has been kept in captivity for 2000 years or so. It's dazzling blue feathers and long tail feathers with iridescent "eyes" have endeared it to estate owners and others who let these birds wander their property to lend it a regal or exotic air (mute swans are used similarly).

Franklin Park Zoo, like many zoos, has several peacocks (none of the females, which are called peahens) wandering the grounds. This individual was at the Giddy-Up Grill concession stand area, hoping for some handouts.