Talk:Essentialism

Objection #001
wouldn't "featherless biped" can also refer to T. Rex, and as such the 3 terms (man, talking animal, featherless biped) aren't the same? 20:12, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

--No. T. Rex was feathered. It is phylogenetically bracketed by feathered animals and its close relatives had feathers. There were bipedal pseudosuchians, but that gets into a debate over whether the integument of the common ancestor of dinosaurs and pseudosuchians was filaments or scaly, and whether that matters since they're analogous structures in the first place.

There are a variety of small mammals which are generally bipedal, or may take a tripodal stance on their hind or tail. When crawling onto a beach to chase prey, orcas only use their forelimbs, though they certainly don't stand upright on them. Several different species of lizard can run on two legs for a short period. Bats frequently hang from just their feet. There is nothing I can think of that is featherless and bipedal in the sense humans are bipedal.