THE HYPERTAIL AND THE INFRATAIL: AXES FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE RIDICULOUS
Nature’s geometrical caricatures point out our everyday blindness to where the tails of fishes really begin and end.
LATERAL THOUGHTS IN SEARCH OF EVER MORE INTERESTING STORIES FROM BIOLOGY. Robin and the Honey Badger’s mission is to recharge biology with originality for you, the non-specialist reader. The oarfish and the ocean sunfish are nature’s geometrical caricatures that point out our everyday blindness to where the tails of fishes really begin and end. Scientists have described two oddities of the fish world that seem to tread water in a blue area just beyond the mental reach of most nature-lovers. We dare to go beyond conventional ichthyology and to use a direct comparison of these enigmatic fishes to make sense of them. Our interpretation will simplify and transform not just the oarfish and ocean sunfish but fishes generally, enriching anyone who has ever appreciated the symmetry of aquatic adaptation.
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