#funny
"Western scholars:"
No, "Western scholars" are not saying this; news outlet France 24 did, and clearly as an obvious, reader-friendly oversimplification of the formal 1901 taxonomic description of Okapia. No "Western scholar" thinks that a taxonomic description is inherently discovering it.
That's not discovery. That's classification. Huge difference, it was already well known to exist, classification just describes what it is, puts it into a category, and create subcategories within the group.
People knew about gravity long before physicists did the mathematics requred to model it.
Or as a biology example, was the dog, cat, horse, sheep, or cow only discovered when they were classified by biologists in like, what? The 1800s? Earliest 1700s?
That’s not discovery. That’s classification.
Literally how did you read my comment and think that I was saying that it's discovery? Or if you're talking about France 24: yeah, everyone here knows; hence "oversimplifying".
But thanks for explaining basic taxonomy to me. I really needed it. (Yes, the 1700s.)
God forbid you expect supposed "journalists" working for a massive news outlet to use precise terms. If they can't communicate a concept as simple as discovery vs classification of an animal accurately you expect them to communicate actual news accurately?
y...yes
Writing it was "discovered less than 150 years ago" is way more than a reader-friendly oversimplification, and it absolutely is not obvious to someone with no expertise in this stuff. Without seeing this discussion, I for sure would've thought that they're claiming nobody knew the animal even existed before that. And I don't have the knowledge to even recognize that as a claim worth fact-checking, let alone correctly interpret that they meant something different. So yeah, not great journalism here.
A simple "first described by x" while not entirely true is at least a step closer to intellectual honesty.
while not entirely true
Actually, that is entirely true; "describe" is a real word in taxonomy with exactly that meaning. If you describe e.g. a species, then you've formally introduced it to science.
However, for a casual audience when not expressly talking about taxonomy, e.g. "first scientifically described by X" would arguably be the best phrasing.
France 24 is not a scientific publication - it's directed at a casual audience to whom describe does not inherently mean describe taxonomifally. The language has to be more precise if its looking to be intellectually honest.
I liked "The animal was discovered by Western science [...]".
It looks like it was drawn from memory.
It looks like it took four project managers to design, and they only collaborated once a week for 20minutes on Teams meetings.
A side story about the Okapi.
When the Okapi became a big thing to the public, a German cutlery manufacturer designed a distinctive looking cheap and useful knife that was named after the Okapi. They became popular pocket knives with German soldiers and often found in the German trenches in WW1. The Okapi knives were made in Germany until the 1980s when the tooling and name was sold to a cutlery and tool manufacturer in South Africa where they are made to this day.
They are still cheap and rugged enough for daily use. And quite popular in poorer parts of the world. Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones was known to regularly carry a large Okapi knife he was given.
I was working a college Halloween event, and a girl showed up dressed as an Okapi. I recognized it immediately, and said "Hey! You're an Okapi!" and she was so happy I had recognized her, when NOBODY else did. Everybody else thought she was really weird. She told me the Okapi was her favorite animal, so maybe a little weird, but I liked her. I like weird.
The Okapi to me will always be the animal that nibbled Arthur Dent's brother to death.
Can a thing not be discovered multiple times?
It's called a clitoris, Kevin.
well, it will be
is this what togapi evolves into?
If you don't write it down then it doesn't count. The British guy wrote it down 150 years ago.
Can't believe it took until we invented writing to discover the sun exists.
It is so easy to just discard the knowledge of other cultures, isn't it?
You gotta write it down. Pencil on paper, chisel on stone, it doesn't matter. If you don't document it then it doesn't count.