# ­xkcd thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-strips\ **Created:** [May 28, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574 "2020-05-28T00:57:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 73
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2022, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1442 "2022-06-07T08:08:48Z")
> **[Or Whatever](https://xkcd.com/2629/)** > > Oh yeah, I didn't even know they renamed it the Willis Tower in 2009, because I know a normal amount about skyscrapers. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2022, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1443 "2022-06-07T11:02:45Z")
> [@xkcd](#): > > I know a normal amount about skyscrapers or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2022, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1444 "2022-06-08T16:29:11Z")
One of the most visually striking strips I’ve seen in a while. > **[Shuttle Skeleton](https://xkcd.com/2630/)** > > It's believed to be related to the Stellar Sea Cow. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2022, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1445 "2022-06-08T18:54:45Z")
I guess Randall doesn’t realize that mammals are a class of fish. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2022, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1446 "2022-06-08T19:50:13Z")
I must admit I’m not familiar with that classification system. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2022, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1447 "2022-06-08T20:01:50Z")
Sharks (or [Chondrichthyes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chondrichthyes)) and fish (or [Osteichthyes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteichthyes)) are the major clades of vertebrate life. Mammals are in the latter. Randall’s statement of “fish or shark, but actually mammal” is analogous to “bird or bat, but actually penguin”. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2022, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1448 "2022-06-08T20:22:49Z")
I assumed it was analogous to how whales were once thought of as fish. Well, at least in Moby Dick they were. I quite like the drawing. I wonder if he’ll offer prints. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2022, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1449 "2022-06-08T20:33:47Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Sharks (or [Chondrichthyes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chondrichthyes)) and fish (or [Osteichthyes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteichthyes)) are the major clades of vertebrate life. Mammals are in the latter. The classification system I’ve seen (including your link) puts Osteichthyes and mammals as separate classes. I haven’t seen something that puts mammals as a member of the Osteichthyes class. Using the term “fish” in cladistics is problematic, since either pretty much [everything is a fish or nothing is](https://www.businessinsider.com/fish-do-not-exist-2016-8) from a cladist point of view. And while it’s obviously possible to name a clade that contains both mammals and “fish”, it isn’t really meaningful or pertinent to space shuttle skeletons. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2022, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1450 "2022-06-08T20:34:37Z")
Originally thought to be Montague or Capulet, butt eventually found to be descended from Mercutio That being said, it’s common for non-scientists (and scientists not speaking of taxonomy) to use “fish” to mean “vertebrates that live in water” ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1451 "2022-06-09T12:52:44Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > That being said, it’s common for non-scientists (and scientists not speaking of taxonomy) to use “fish” to mean “vertebrates that live in water” …unless they have nipples. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1452 "2022-06-09T13:13:40Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > The classification system I’ve seen (including your link) puts Osteichthyes and mammals as separate classes. I haven’t seen something that puts mammals as a member of the Osteichthyes class. Second paragraph of wiki page: > Osteichthyes can be compared to [Euteleostomi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euteleostomi). In [paleontology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleontology) the terms are synonymous. In [ichthyology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichthyology) the difference is that Euteleostomi presents a [cladistic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cladistic) view which includes the terrestrial [tetrapods](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrapod) that evolved from lobe-finned fish. Until recently, the view of most ichthyologists has been that Osteichthyes were [paraphyletic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraphyletic) and include only fishes.[[4]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteichthyes#cite_note-fotw-4) _However, since 2013 widely cited ichthyology papers have been published with phylogenetic trees that treat the Osteichthyes as a clade including tetrapods._[[5]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteichthyes#cite_note-Betancur-5)[[6]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteichthyes#cite_note-6)[[7]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteichthyes#cite_note-7)[[4]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteichthyes#cite_note-fotw-4) Emphasis added. See also the phylogenic tree: > **[Osteichthyes | Phylogeny](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteichthyes#Phylogeny)** > > A phylogeny of living Osteichthyes, including the tetrapods, is shown in the cladogram below. Whole-genome duplication took place in the ancestral Osteichthyes. > [@Andy\_L](#): > > That being said, it’s common for non-scientists (and scientists not speaking of taxonomy) to use “fish” to mean “vertebrates that live in water” That is acceptable, but **xkcd** is making the distinction between fish and sharks, which indicates a phylogenic context. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1453 "2022-06-09T13:17:17Z")
True. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1454 "2022-06-09T14:43:13Z")
I just enjoyed the Stellar Sea Cow pun. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1455 "2022-06-09T16:06:55Z")
Me two. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1456 "2022-06-09T20:33:28Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > …unless they have nipples. But most scientists have nipples. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1457 "2022-06-09T21:00:14Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > But most scientists have nipples Batman’s a scientist. And…yup, story checks out. [![](https://illgetdrivethru.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/batnipples.jpg?w=600) ](https://illgetdrivethru.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/batnipples.jpg?w=600) ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1458 "2022-06-09T21:55:21Z")
Ah, only on the SDMB can a conversation drift naturally from the Space Shuttle to Batman’s nipples. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1459 "2022-06-10T22:45:34Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Batman’s nipples Band name? I’m not sure of the genre. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1460 "2022-06-10T22:57:52Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > > [@Pleonast](#): > > > > Batman’s nipples > > Band name? I’m not sure of the genre. Hot take: > **[Queercore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queercore)** > > Queercore (or homocore) is a cultural/social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of the punk subculture and a music genre that comes from punk rock. It is distinguished by its discontent with society in general, and specifically society's disapproval of the LGBT community. Queercore expresses itself in a DIY style through magazines, music, writing and film. > As a music genre, it may be distinguished by lyrics exploring themes of prejudice and dealing with issues such as sexual ide... ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2022, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1461 "2022-06-11T02:34:03Z")
> **[Exercise Progression](https://xkcd.com/2631/)** > > They said after I got into a routine, I'd enjoy getting progressively stronger and stop whining so much about how hard exercise was. Well, they were half right! Don’t understand this one, but it’s been many years since I complained about how hard exercise was. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=72) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=74)