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Old 04-08-2020, 02:21 AM   #3
Phantasm
 
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: On the road again...
Default Re: Defining biological taxa with GURPS

I go by the Aristotlean taxonomy in my fantasy setting, plus an addition:

Sponges - soft very primitive and generally immobile invertebrates, such as sponges and anemones; also includes jellyfish

Slugs - most molluscs and other soft generally mobile invertebrates that lack limbs, such as slugs, snails, leeches, earthworms, tapeworms, etc.

Cephelopodes - invertebrates that possess limbs and lack skeletons, exo- or endo-; includes squids, octopuses, and cuttlefish

Arthropods - all legged invertebrates with a hard exoskeleton

Fish - cold-blooded vertebrates that breathe water, includes sharks

Reptiles - cold-blooded vertebrate air-breathers with skin or scales; amphibians, lizards, crocodillians, and snakes

Birds - warm-blooded vertebrate air-breathers with feathers

Mammals - warm-blooded vertebrate air-breathers with skin, fur, or scales that give birth to live young (note: platypuses and spiny echidnas are unknown in the world)


My addition:

Dinosaurs - warm-blooded vertebrate air-breathers with skin or scales that lay eggs


I also have Hybrids for things that are clearly "a (bored) wizard or sorcerer did it": pegasi, pegadactyls, gryphons, hippogriffs, etc.
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