this post was submitted on 02 Aug 2024
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Science Memes

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[–] Skasi@lemmy.world 31 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

I just checked. My own pooper is more or less halfway between my booper and my feet. So ~~since I am a rept~~ if I were a reptile I would be measured only half my current human size.

[–] marcos@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago

Reptile legs usually add length in a direction that is orthogonal to the booper-to-pooper one.

[–] EtherWhack@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago

Cotton Hill, is that you?

[–] xantoxis@lemmy.world 14 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Biologists would never go for it. Nothing in biology is ever given a whimsical or off-color name.

[–] skulblaka@sh.itjust.works 11 points 1 month ago

kicks Hotwheels Sisyphus under the rug

[–] wizzor@sopuli.xyz 14 points 1 month ago (2 children)

My only question is, why are only amphibians measured this way?

[–] halykthered@lemmy.ml 30 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Perhaps their tails are easily or often damaged?

So measuring from full fore to aft might give inconsistent results among other similar variables for the examined species, such as location, age, and weight. Going booper to pooper might give more reliable data, if the tails are often snipped at the tip by other reptiles, predators, disease, rogue mohels, swamp boat propellers, or hastily closed doors.

This is my best guess, I'm not lizardologist or a measuresmith.

[–] memfree@beehaw.org 2 points 1 month ago

I'm also not an expert, but that was my thought, too.

More than that, even if a tail is undamaged, including it is not giving useful imformation because tail size can vary out of proportion to the main body and is pretty standard for other animals as well. For example, no one is measuring a horse to include the tail length, nor a dog, cat, and generally not a bird, either.

That said, I expect an news story about alligators on the golf course or catching invasive snakes to measure the whole body for the NEWS story and let the experts worry about the booper2pooper length in their own space.

[–] dingus@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

I mean, it's not the exact same, but human fetuses can be measured similarly with a "crown to rump" length. I have to notate this in my reports (but I include other measurements too like hand/foot length and "crown to heel" length).

[–] jaybone@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Spitter to shitter