Richard Whitekettle, «Rats are Like Snakes, and Hares are Like Goats: A Study in Israelite Land Animal Taxonomy», Vol. 82 (2001) 345-362
Israelite taxonomic thought drew a contrast between a land animal taxon referred to by the words Cr#$ or #&mr that contained animals such as rats and snakes (Land Animals I), and a land animal taxon referred to by the words hmhb or hyx that contained animals such as hares and goats (Land Animals II). This essay shows that the Land Animals I taxon was characterized by locomotory movement in the horizontal plane and the Land Animals II taxon was characterized by locomotory movement in the vertical plane. Thus, the contrast was between land animals that were perceived to move along the ground (Land Animals I) and land animals that were perceived to move over the ground (Land Animals II).
Land Animals I4 | Land Animals II5 | ||||||
Spotted Lizard | Mouse | *Snake | *Centipede | Antelope | Leopard | Camel | Sheep |
Dabb Lizard | Rat | *Snail | *Millipede | Roebuck | Jackal | Horse | Goat |
Chameleon | *Slug | *Scorpion | Gazelle | Lion | Cow | Pig | |
Gecko | *Spider | Addax | Bear | Ass | |||
Skink | Hyrax | Hare | Ox |
The question is, how were these two classes of Land Animals distinguished from one another6?
Taxa are distinguished from one another in biological classification systems by means of contrasting characteristics. The simplest form that such a contrast might take would be two taxa that are distinguished from one another through contrasting manifestations of a single attribute. For example, if one taxon (e.g., Mammals) is defined by attribute X (e.g., the presence of mammae), another taxon (e.g., Reptiles) might be distinguished from it because it is characterized by attribute Non-X (e.g., the absence of mammae).
Looking at the complement of animals assigned to each, it might be thought that body size was the characteristic used to distinguish Land Animals I from Land Animals II, with the former consisting of Small Land Animals and the latter consisting of Large Land Animals. While this is generally true, note that the length of the hyrax (Procavia capensis), the smallest of the animals assigned to the Land Animals II taxon, is 30-55 cm., and its height is 20-30 cm.7; the Dabb Lizard, (Uromastix aegyptius), a rather bulky lizard, and one of the largest of the animals assigned to the Land Animals I