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"Trimodal", "Aerophibian", "Triphibian" or "Aeraquaterrian" Animal Designation

One that can walk, swim and fly.
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After seeing a video of a bat swimming and knowing that there's a name for animals that can walk and swim, I wondered if there was a designation for an animal that could also fly. I didn't find any and came up with the name "aerophibian", or so I thought. I googled it and saw that the name had been applied to a mythical comic book creature but not used anywhere in science.

This is a perfectly good designation that should be elevated to "real word" status. Therefor the idea is for a new class of animal called "aerophibians", ones that can walk, fly and swim.

doctorremulac3, Jul 28 2016

Count Duckula https://en.wikipedi.../wiki/Count_Duckula
It all adds up ... [8th of 7, Jul 28 2016]

Trimodal Animal: Bat http://www.earthtou...risingly-good-at-it
Swimming [doctorremulac3, Jul 30 2016]

Trimodal Animal: Bat https://www.youtube...watch?v=qWOUZAa5vlQ
Walking. [doctorremulac3, Jul 30 2016]

Trimodal Animal: Bat https://www.youtube...watch?v=Upq7LyhCGXE
And of course, flying. [doctorremulac3, Jul 30 2016]

Trimodal animal: Flying Squirrel https://www.youtube...watch?v=26O1FZaCSLE
Swimming. (couldn't find a flying squirrel but I'm sure flying squirrels can swim too.) [doctorremulac3, Jul 30 2016]

Trimodal animal: Flying Squirrel https://www.youtube...watch?v=1-FHzf4xnWw
Walking and flying. [doctorremulac3, Jul 30 2016]

Trimodal animal: Duck https://www.youtube...watch?v=R3zsSMi24Gk
Swimming. [doctorremulac3, Jul 30 2016]

Trimodal animal: Duck https://www.youtube...watch?v=XZVF0VS0VNQ
Walking. [doctorremulac3, Jul 30 2016]

Trimodal animal: Duck https://www.youtube...watch?v=YP9ZyYZitpo
Flying. [doctorremulac3, Jul 30 2016]

Trimodal animal: Flying Dragon https://www.youtube...watch?v=ewCCwMC46Pk
I'm sure it can swim. All lizards are good swimmers I think. [doctorremulac3, Jul 30 2016]

Trimodal animal: Flying Snake https://www.youtube...watch?v=HMs8Cu8PNKM
Flying in this vid, but they can swim and travel on land as well obviously. [doctorremulac3, Jul 30 2016]

Neuston https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuston
Possibly fallacious justification for terms for groups of animals defined by their abilities and behavior rather than taxonomically [notexactly, Aug 01 2016]

(?) Cat-burning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat-burning
Another form of cheap entertainment at cats' expense [notexactly, Aug 01 2016]

Trimodal animal: Water strider https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerridae
Interesting in that they traverse water using surface tension. [doctorremulac3, Aug 02 2016]

[link]






       Does a duck count?   

       Is this just an "mfd, naming?"
RayfordSteele, Jul 28 2016
  

       "Aerophibian" is an excellent word, except for the fact that it's terrible. Greece may be on hard times right now, but that's no justification for mutilating their language.   

       "Amphibian" comes from Greek - the "amphi" bit means "both" (like the "ambi" in "ambidextrous"), and the "bian" bit means "life" (as in bio-).   

       So, the "phi" in "aerophibian" is only half of "both", and an "aerophibian" would therefore be an "air- bo-life" thing.   

       You might want to try something like "triplophibian" ("three-fold life") or even "oitreisbian" ("all three life"), or perhaps "aeraquaterrian".
MaxwellBuchanan, Jul 28 2016
  

       //Is this just an "mfd, naming?"//   

       Well, it's creating a new class of animal. Not sure if that's just naming. I'll leave that one to the judges. I think new designations should be allowed. Just naming something like "Call all dogs: slogmotots" would be pointless naming that would be MFD I'd think.   

       Aeraquaterrian. Hmm.   

       Would "Triphibian" work? It's currently a word meaning "able to fight on land sea and in the air".   

       Judges?
doctorremulac3, Jul 28 2016
  

       "Triphibian" again has that half-a-Greek-word "phi" stuck in the middle, and therefore means "three- bo-life". (Actually, the "phi" is the second half of the Greek for "both", so I guess it would mean "three-th-life".)   

       // it's creating a new class of animal. // Well sort of, but not a sensible class. It's taxonomically wrong, since the animals you're thinking of are polyphyletic (ie, picked from different taxonomic groups). It would be like creating a new class of animal that includes all animals with reddish markings.   

       Amphibians are a class of animal, but the name denotes a taxonomic group - there are plenty of amphibious animals that aren't amphibians.
MaxwellBuchanan, Jul 28 2016
  

       Aeraquaterrian has a much better ring than triphibian.
RayfordSteele, Jul 28 2016
  

       // Does a duck count? //   

       Apparently so.   

       <link>
8th of 7, Jul 28 2016
  

       Well, I think there should be a name for the group. There are useful names and categories and not so useful categories. If there were some link between all animals with reddish markings, then indeed there should be a category referring to it. The link between all flying/swimming/walking animals is singular, they all live and function in these three environments. There is no link between animals that have reddish markings therefor no need to consider this trait.   

       Maybe I'll post the various suggestions separately to be voted on. I'll wait and see if there are others. I like triphibian despite its not standing up to root breakdown scrutiny.   

       Aeraquaterrian would work.   

       I like the idea of having tri in there though. Trikinision? As in "The bat is one of few animals that practice trikinision, flying, swimming and walking. Trimobility? Na.   

       Can you mix languages? How does this creating words thing work anyway? What are the rules? I looked up "fin", "foot" and "wing" but grinding those up and cramming them into a word just makes a mess.
doctorremulac3, Jul 28 2016
  

       //Can you mix languages?//   

       Definitely not. The reason television never really took off is that it is a mixture of Greek and Latin.   

       It's also worth noting that the Académie française explicitly forbids foreigners from using french words (or part-words) for non-french things. Fortunately, the UK's Office for Public Communication has, reciprocally, forbidden the use of french words for any purpose, even in France.
MaxwellBuchanan, Jul 28 2016
  

       Aeraquaterrian. Dhunno, just sounds too sciency. Kids should be able to remember it when they're at the zoo and the tour guide points to the duck (it's a boring zoo) and says "Do you know what an animal that can fly, swim or walk is called?"   

       It should be short and catchy. Like "Twinkies".
doctorremulac3, Jul 28 2016
  

       [doc], have you ever asked a kid to name their favourite dinosaur? If they don't say "Barney", they are quite likely to say something like "Alcovasaurus longispinus". (The ones who say "Barney" should, of course, be beaten about the head with a blunt object.)
MaxwellBuchanan, Jul 28 2016
  

       "Omnibian"? Heh, I can sneak that into a review or something. I reckon one of those diving gannets is a reasonable example.
bs0u0155, Jul 28 2016
  

       //(The ones who say "Barney" should, of course, be beaten about the head with a blunt object.)//   

       Carefully administered corporal punishment involving light head trauma never hurt my development into the jenius I am today.   

       //Omnibian//   

       Max is the one to defer to on all that word stuff. I don't cotton to all them book learnin' stuff. Max? Does "Omnibian" pass the stink test?
doctorremulac3, Jul 28 2016
  

       I just read where a guy, fishing 1km offshore in a lake, was attacked by a badger which boarded his boat.
FlyingToaster, Jul 28 2016
  

       //Does "Omnibian" pass the stink test?// Well, the head is Latin and the tail is Greek...
MaxwellBuchanan, Jul 28 2016
  

       What do you call flying fish that can swim and fly, but can't live on land? Or does their flight not count since it isn't sustained fro more than 45 seconds?   

       Though by that standard, ducks (and bats?) only swim underwater for a minute or two.
scad mientist, Jul 28 2016
  

       Also, what about burrowing animals? And tardigrades can survive full vacuum.
MaxwellBuchanan, Jul 28 2016
  

       // their flight not count since it isn't sustained fro more than 45 seconds? //   

       The Wright brothers first flight was 12 seconds. That counted ...   

       // Though by that standard, ducks (and bats?) only swim underwater for a minute or two //   

       Penguins can swim underwater for much longer ... cats can stay down for weeks (until the sack rots).
8th of 7, Jul 28 2016
  

       I have a can of tuna that's been sitting in my pantry for months.
MaxwellBuchanan, Jul 28 2016
  

       //Or does their flight not count since it isn't sustained fro more than 45 seconds?//   

       Interesting point. Does gliding count? That opens this up to squirrels which can probably swim sort of.   

       As 8th pointed out, cats can stay underwater indefinitely and by the same token are probably capable of flight with a little assistance. Landing maybe not so much.   

       Which name was that bun for? Or was it for the basic idea?
doctorremulac3, Jul 28 2016
  

       // cats ... are probably capable of flight with a little assistance. //   

       With nothing more than a gentle throw to provide initial airspeed, even an average cat can fly for 4 nautical miles without further assistance.
8th of 7, Jul 29 2016
  

       Trimodal. Trimotal?   

       Tribumotus? Tribumotal?   

       As in, "The duck, bat and flying squirrel are all "tribumotal", that is, having the ability to travel on land, in the air, and in the water."
doctorremulac3, Jul 29 2016
  

       What does the "bu" mean? Trimodal is probably OK.
MaxwellBuchanan, Jul 29 2016
  

       For once I actually agree with [MB]! The words are not etymologically justified.   

       I had a go at this thought when I was about eight or nine. The problem is that "amphibian" does not just refer to animals which are amphibious. There are fully aquatic amphibians as well as fully terrestrial amphibians. The "amphi" bit kind of vaguely refers to their form as aquatic-type animals at an early stage of their independent life and terrestrial type animals as adults, which again doesn't apply to all of them, so it's more about form than habitat. Hence the terms need to be adjectival rather than substantive. They also don't really refer to taxa. There is no single taxon of animals which is both necessarily and sufficiently aquatic, terrestrial and aerial. However, there does seem to be a taxon of animals which are both aquatic and aerial, namely the exocoetidae, just about, although they glide rather than fly.   

       That said, no problem with words describing the behaviour.
nineteenthly, Jul 29 2016
  

       //What does the "bu" mean?//   

       Sort of punched it up a bit.   

       By the way, I believe I've related the story of how I most likely am the creator of the widely used slang name of a particular item of clothing right? I believe it's now in the dictionary and I was, I'm pretty sure, the one who created and used it first on the media of the time, radio and television, to millions of listeners and viewers. Bottom line, I believe I did create a word. Or to be more exact, title of an object that consists of two words. So I've got some experience in this department. Does it mean I'm some kind of linguistic expert? Uh... no. Which would become abundantly clear if you knew the term I came up with.   

       I forgot if I told that story but if I already did, never mind.   

       //exocoetidae//   

       So we're getting close, but still no word for walk/swim/fly. I really do believe this is needed. My idea isn't necessarily for a particular word, just that a word is needed. Totally open to suggestions. Throw one out Nine. If it gets everybody's thumbs up, I'll go with it and see if I can get it into the dictionary.
doctorremulac3, Jul 29 2016
  

       // the widely used slang name of a particular item of clothing// namely?
MaxwellBuchanan, Jul 29 2016
  

       //exocoetidae// After whom, incidentally, the Exocet missile was named.
MaxwellBuchanan, Jul 29 2016
  

       naming...... from help file: "naming - specific names to give to people, pets, restaurants....."
xenzag, Jul 29 2016
  

       My guess is the "wife-beater..."
RayfordSteele, Jul 29 2016
  

       //Exocet// the development of which was co-funded by a famous pharmaceutical company's marketing department, almost solely for rights to the "When you want to make a headache really, really go away" slogan.
FlyingToaster, Jul 29 2016
  

       //My guess is the "wife-beater..."//   

       Yup.   

       //from help file: "naming - specific names to give to people, pets, restaurants....."//   

       What about the establishment of new zoological categories?
doctorremulac3, Jul 29 2016
  

       //new zoological categories?//.... like elephinsects or batocotopi or reptiroccoli (part reptile, part broccoli) Once started this simple process of prefix/suffix becomes and endless succession of names. Is this halfbaked?
xenzag, Jul 29 2016
  

       What about animals that can only walk and fly? There are millions of those (since almost every animal that can fly can also walk; the only exceptions I can think of are flying fish and Douglas Bader), yet there is no name for that.
MaxwellBuchanan, Jul 29 2016
  

       What about airborne bacteria? Flying and swimming, simultaneously, sorta. Walking, not so much.   

       And what about animals that walk on water?
RayfordSteele, Jul 29 2016
  

       // water //   

       Solid or liquid ?
8th of 7, Jul 30 2016
  

       // //new zoological categories?//.... like elephinsects or batocotopi or reptiroccoli (part reptile, part broccoli) Once started this simple process of prefix/suffix becomes and endless succession of names. Is this halfbaked?//   

       You've listed zoological categories for things that don't exist. Animals that fly, walk and swim do exist, yet they have no designation.   

       The current way to refer to animals that can fly, walk an swim is: "They can fly, walk and swim." That's like, instead of saying "omnivore" saying "something that can eat plants or animals to survive." A designation word is helpful.   

       I would assert that there already IS a class of animals that can walk, swim and fly, but nobody's named that class of animals yet.   

       //What about animals that can only walk and fly? There are millions of those (since almost every animal that can fly can also walk; the only exceptions I can think of are flying fish and Douglas Bader), yet there is no name for that.//   

       They've named animals that can walk, bipedal or quadrupeds. Animals that can fly or glide are called volant. They've just never gotten around to naming animals that can to both. Probably because they, whoever they are, need to get off their butts and get to work.   

       Let's see how much success I have naming the flying/swimming/walking thing, then I'll look into naming the flying walkers.   

       Aquavoluntpeds? Voluntaquapeds?   

       Voluntaquapedal.   

       "Hey, don't throw that bat into the pool!" "Don't worry, it's voluntaquapedal!" Got kind of a "supercalifragilistic" zing to it. I'm putting that at the top of the list and going to bed.
doctorremulac3, Jul 30 2016
  

       As the distinguisher of said unclassified cross species endeavour... the choice be yours.   

       How about Terraquaviariuos? I don't know if that's LaGreecian or not but it rolls off the tongue nicely anyway.   

       Ok, I'll put that at the top of the list too and go to bed.
doctorremulac3, Jul 30 2016
  

       no pressure...   

       Good morning.   

       Trimodal. It's simple and sounds nice. Max said it was ok and he's got that whole smarty pants thing going on. Plus he knows like, words n stuff so I'll defer to him.   

       There's also already a word in Wikipedia meaning some kind of math thing. I can just add some bat/duck/squirrel walking/swimming/flying pics and say it also means animals who can travel on land water or air.   

       The nice thing is, nobody could argue that these animals weren't trimodal. They've got three modes of travel.   

       Let me have my coffee first.
doctorremulac3, Jul 30 2016
  

       //he's got that whole smarty pants thing going on. Plus he knows like, words n stuff// Aww, gee. To be honest I just make this stuff up as I go along. It may be perilysotic but it works for me.
MaxwellBuchanan, Jul 30 2016
  

       Well, speaking of making stuff up, ALL words were just made up by somebody, and here's mine (approved by MadMaxB):   

       "Trimodal: adjective / zoology / (of an animal) being capable of walking, swimming and flying. "The duck can travel trimodally being equipped with feet, flippers and wings."   

       Oh yea, and Max, your flying swimmers or walking flyers or swimming walkers? They're... well... I don't even need to say it do I?   

       So we'll call it two words created this day.
doctorremulac3, Jul 30 2016
  

       // ALL words were just made up by somebody //   

       No they weren't. They generally gradually emerge through mishearings and misunderstandings, speech impediments and laziness.   

       On-topic, are we talking about clades here or is it about classifying lifestyles?
nineteenthly, Jul 30 2016
  

       It's my understanding that a clade traces a particular trait back to a common ancestor so not applicable here.   

       I don't think it's a taxonomic style category, rather a simple descriptive category.
doctorremulac3, Jul 30 2016
  

       Making up words is excluded from the halfbakery as has been pointed out for very good reasons.
xenzag, Jul 30 2016
  

       Yea, well, I'm going to do it anyway.   

       Besides: "Whole naming schemes, tools to help with naming or exchange names, and specific names accompanying actual inventions are okay."   

       The invention is a category of animals that can be useful in discussion of these animals and their properties.   

       But mainly I'm going to do it anyway.   

       (Bone from Xen in 3...2...1...)
doctorremulac3, Jul 30 2016
  

       //trimodal// what about arboreal ? subterranean ? seafloor-based ? (clams, lobsters)
FlyingToaster, Jul 30 2016
  

       I call dibs on the trimodal concept for locomotion.   

       Wait, are you saying lobsters are found in trees?   

       By the way, checked Wikipedia, there's no "trimodal" in it yet. I think this will be my first Wikipedia article creation. I believe they review it and say yea or nay to whatever you put in there. If I do this, about a 20% chance I actually will, I'll put in the two meanings. The math thing and the zoological designation.   

       Ok, I'm going to the beach. It's my day off. Time to get away from this friggin' computer.
doctorremulac3, Jul 30 2016
  

       Many tree-based critters are very ungainly on the ground. As well, there's earthworms - underground. Or were you going purely for the anthropocentric viewpoint.
FlyingToaster, Jul 30 2016
  

       Apparently all snakes can swim, so the flying/gliding variety also fit this classification.   

       There are also slithering animals. I guess flopping like the Sidewinder would be considered a method of walking. Is swimming via fin movement different from swimming via fluid expulsion? Where does a flying squirrel lie? Parachuting baby spiders? Phytoplankton? Mussels?
Voice, Jul 30 2016
  

       //Apparently all snakes can swim, so the flying/gliding variety also fit this classification.//   

       I put a video up. This thing's got an amazingly impressive glide ratio. It actually slithers through the air.   

       I guess you could say baby spiders being blown along via their silk thread parachutes would be bimodal.   

       How come nature never developed an animal that just falls to get away from predators? Something comes after it, it just jumps out of the tree. The bouncing squirrel or something.
doctorremulac3, Jul 31 2016
  

       Ten meters per second squared is a bitch of a law to overcome?...   

       Not if you're the size of a mouse or a shrew. Minimal mass and momentum, low terminal velocity due to mass/area ratio. Very small mammals can fall from any height, land unharmed and run away.   

       The upper size limit for that trick seems to be the hedgehog, which will climb high fences and walls, jump off, and curl into a ball while airborne. Drag is high, and the spines act as shock absorbers on landing. After a second or so, they uncurl and go trundling off in search of more food.
8th of 7, Jul 31 2016
  

       Somebody figured out that cats can survive an eight story fall without harm... and you just know that the sick bastard tried a few more floors to make sure.   

       ...it's always that ninth life with them.   

       The original work was based on a statistical analysis of vet's reports on cats that had been brought in after high falls.   

       Subsequent work based on intentionally throwing cats off tall buildings (and dropping them from aircraft) simply used said research to provide a flimsy cloak of academic respectability for what is essentially a form of cheap amusement. The fact that the experimentation is carried out under cover of darkness does militate against a rigorous methodology.
8th of 7, Jul 31 2016
  

       This judge says it's "naming".
normzone, Aug 01 2016
  

       //specific names accompanying actual inventions are okay//   

       The invention is a category of animal.
doctorremulac3, Aug 01 2016
  

       It might be best to start thinking this way if we're going to classify alien critters when we find them. Classification isn't a call for a list or anything, it's just finding words for gaps that haven't been noticed yet.
That's invention too.
  

       ...isn't it?   

       //It might be best to start thinking this way if we're going to classify alien critters// Well, yes and no. When we find life elsewhere, and assuming it is not related by descent to terrestrial life, we will want to classify it rationally, as we do on Earth.   

       So, we would not formally classify all (say) flying things together, unless they shared common ancestry; any more than we would classify bats along with bees.   

       A word for "things that fly, walk and swim" might be a useful colloquial term, but not a basis for classification.
MaxwellBuchanan, Aug 02 2016
  

       Truely alien is going to be problematic even if it has DNA. Starting with how something interacts with the enviroment is a good starting point.
wjt, Aug 02 2016
  

       //You could justifiably (in that case) classify by how much things weigh; what celebrities they resemble; how much it costs to feed them; what sound they make (and if there’s an echo); and most of all, by what their names sound like.//   

       But these aren't useful or interesting classifications. They would never be used.   

       This classification is useful, interesting, and would be used. It would be central to discussions of evolution and how various animals ended up doing the same job with different approaches.   

       I see what you're saying, but if a category can be allowed, you've got to admit, this is pretty useful one.   

       Forgot to add an insect. Water striders are trimodal.
doctorremulac3, Aug 02 2016
  

       //Starting with how something interacts with the enviroment is a good starting point//   

       No it isn't, at least not for formal classification. Formal classification actually sets out to reflect evolutionary paths, which is why a whale is formally classified as a mammal (like a shrew) and not as a bony fish (like a cod).   

       For informal names, you can of course pick whatever you like (which is why scallops will appear on the menu under "Fish"). But don't mess with formal classification.
MaxwellBuchanan, Aug 02 2016
  

       Probably if we are talking exobiology, given the vastness of unknown, chemical metabolism would be the most useful. The reason being, we don't want holes eaten in our suits and ships.
wjt, Aug 05 2016
  

       An apt self descriptor? //a bony fish (like a cod)//
xenzag, Aug 05 2016
  

       // By the way, checked Wikipedia, there's no "trimodal" in it yet. I think this will be my first Wikipedia article creation. //   

       I recommend calling it "Trimodality", not "Trimodal", because encyclopedia article titles should generally be nouns.
notexactly, Aug 12 2016
  
      
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