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).
VII. Land
Animal Classes
and the Plane
of Locomotory Movements
The preceding analysis has demonstrated the following. Land Animals with a sprawling limb stance (Land Animals I) propel themselves forward with locomotory movements that occur largely along a horizontal plane relative to the ground. Similarly, the locomotory movements of legless Land Animals (Land Animals I) occur either exclusively or largely along a horizontal plane relative to the ground. Land Animals with an upright limb stance (Land Animals II), however, propel themselves forward with locomotory movements that occur largely along a vertical plane relative to the ground. As seen in the following, a contrast between horizontally and vertically oriented locomotory movements would explain the placement of every animal in Israel’s two Land Animal classes:
LOCOMOTORY MOVEMENTS | LOCOMOTORY MOVEMENTS | ||||||
IN THE HORIZONTAL PLANE | IN THE VERTICAL PLANE | ||||||
Land Animals I | Land Animals II | ||||||
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 |
Such a differentiation can be depicted in the following manner: the morphology and kinematics of animals assigned to the Land Animals I taxon are situated within the space defined by the parallelepiped on the left; the morphology and kinematics of animals assigned to the Land Animals II taxon are situated within the space defined by the parallelepiped on the right35: