Zoophyte
A zoophyte (animal-plant) is an obsolete term for an organism thought to be intermediate between animals and plants, or an animal with plant-like attributes or appearance. In the 19th century they were reclassified as
A group of strange creatures that exist somewhere on, or between, the boundaries of plants and animals kingdoms were the subject of considerable debate in the eighteenth century. Some naturalists believed that they were a blend of plant and animal; other naturalists considered them to be entirely either plant or animal (such as sea anemones).[1]
Ancient and medieval to early modern era
In Eastern cultures such as
Zoophytes are common in medieval and renaissance era
Reports of zoophytes continued into the seventeenth century and were commented on by many influential thinkers of the time period, including Francis Bacon. It was not until 1646 that claims of zoophytes began to be concretely refuted, and skepticism towards claims of zoophytes mounted throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.[3]
18th to 19th century, natural history
As natural history and natural philosophy developed in the 18th century, there was considerable debate and disagreements between naturalists about organisms on or near the boundary between the animal and plant kingdoms, and how to relate them in taxonomy. Interest in the topic began in the 1730s with the research by Abraham Trembley into polyps.[7]
When
Georges Cuvier in his Le Règne Animal of 1817 titled one of his four divisions (Embranchements) of the animal kingdom "Les Zoophytes ou Animaux Rayonnés".[9] An 1834 English translation uses the term Radiata, and titles the division "The Zoophytes, or Animalia Radiata",[10] an expanded 1840 translation notes that "Neither of these names is literally applicable, for all the animals in the division are not radiated; and the very name Zoophyte, 'plant - animal,' is a contradiction. In England, the term Zoophyte is much more restricted than in France, but it is equally inapplicable, excepting, perhaps, to those species, about which there are still disputes as to whether they are animals or vegetables."[11] Despite its scientific obsolescence, Charles Darwin continued to use the term throughout his studies.
References
- ^ Kirkpatrick, E. M., ed. (1983). Chambers 20th Century Dictionary. Edinburgh: Chambers. p. 1524.
- ISBN 0-87131-981-0.
- ^ S2CID 71554165.
- ISBN 978-1-86197-662-8. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
- ^ Lee, Henry (1887). The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary : A Curious Fable of the Cotton Plant. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington. pp. 1–60. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
- ISBN 978-0-88192-630-9.
- S2CID 143139550.
- ISBN 978-3-319-07479-5.
- ^ Cuvier, Georges. 1817. Le règne animal distribué d'après son organisation pour servir de base a l'histoire naturelle des animaux. 4 vols. Paris: Deterville.
- ^ Cuvier, Georges. 1827-35. The animal kingdom arranged in conformity with its organization. With additional descriptions of all the species hitherto named, and of many not before noticed, by Edward Griffith and others. 16 vols. London: Geo. B. Whittaker. Volume 12./
- ^ Georges Léopold Chrétien Frédéric Dagobert De baron Cuvier (1840). Cuvier's Animal Kingdom,: Arranged According to Its Organisation; Forming the Basis for a Natural History of Animals, and an Introduction to Comparative Anatomy. Mammalia, Birds, and Reptiles, by Edward Blyth. The Fishes and Radiata, by Robert Mudie. The Molluscous Animals, by George Johnston, ... The Articulated Animals, by J.O. Westwood, ... Illustrated by Three Hundred Engravings on Wood. Wm. S. Orr and Company. p. 638.
External links
- The dictionary definition of zoophyte at Wiktionary