theres also a definition of a what a tree in the sense , its develops wood, many things are tree like, but not trees: such as palms(just overgrown herbs), dracaena( aka cabbage tree, they have something dracenoid thickining.) extinct plants like giant lycophytes and ferns

[-] kubica@fedia.io 56 points 6 days ago

Nature likes things that turn hard- Wait what?

[-] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 48 points 6 days ago

Weren't there like, several millions of years where trees evolved but nothing had come yet to break down wood, so like, generations of dead forest just fell on top of each other until some fungus was like "that looks yummy"?

[-] ryedaft@sh.itjust.works 45 points 6 days ago

The molecule is called lignin. And yes, there was a good 60 million years before that particular problem was cracked.

[-] OrganicMustard@lemmy.world 22 points 6 days ago

Next is plastics

[-] meyotch@slrpnk.net 28 points 6 days ago

First, we bio-engineer bacteria and fungi to prefer plastic as food.

Second, these bacteria become a serious endopathogen in the human body while scavenging our precious bodily microplastics.

Third, we engineer a bacteriophage to attack the bacteria in our brains.

Fourth…

The whole human comedy just keeps going and going

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[-] MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml 26 points 5 days ago

Same for roots, btw, just earlier.

[-] carpelbridgesyndrome@sh.itjust.works 20 points 5 days ago

There are fern trees, conifer trees, and flowering trees. Where are my moss trees?

[-] fossilesque@mander.xyz 17 points 5 days ago

https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/dendrolycopodium/dendroideum/

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/204198-Dendrolycopodium-obscurum

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[-] NotASharkInAManSuit@lemmy.world 34 points 6 days ago

Also, no such thing as fish.

Google it.

[-] boydster@sh.itjust.works 27 points 6 days ago

Impossible. If there were no such thing as fish, how could bees be fish?

[-] NotASharkInAManSuit@lemmy.world 32 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

I don’t have the tools to know how to respond to this comment. You win.

Edit: Holy shit. I just did a quick google. Boydster is not shitting us. Just google “bees are fish.” Oddly enough, this actually furthers the thesis of fish not existing.

[-] Devmapall@lemm.ee 18 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

To add on for anyone who is lazy like me, the thing where Google summarizes says California has classified bees as fish under an environmental protection act. According to the first result (Reddit) it's because fish is a catch all term in that law. Instead of listing all the animals they just use fish. Because fish,bees, and the other animals are all invertebrates.

Now whoever reads this has three Lemmy comments, a reddit thread reference, and an ai overview reference as some solid sources

[-] DancingBear@midwest.social 18 points 6 days ago

Fish are vertebrates they have a backbone

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[-] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 14 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

I don’t have the tools to know how to respond to this comment. You win.

This is the best way I've ever seen utter befuddlement expressed. Chapeau!

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[-] TacoButtPlug@sh.itjust.works 13 points 5 days ago

I wasn't ready for how weird this comment section turned out to be...

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[-] Hadriscus@lemm.ee 11 points 5 days ago

Arborization !

[-] Deconceptualist@lemm.ee 33 points 6 days ago

My sister in law recently quipped that "Trees are a social construct" and at first I thought she was just being glib but now I can't get that statement out of my head.

[-] resting_parrot@sh.itjust.works 24 points 6 days ago

I listen to a podcast called Completely Arbortrary. They talk about a different tree species each episode. They say trees are a strategy, not a strict definition.

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[-] DeathsEmbrace@lemm.ee 31 points 6 days ago

Its called convergent evolution and you also have some shit you wouldnt believe that makes all apes similar to us.

[-] OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca 16 points 6 days ago

Apes are so similar to us because we came from a common ancestor. I'd love to hear if there are traits we evolved independently after we split though.

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[-] miss_demeanour@lemmy.dbzer0.com 33 points 6 days ago

So crabapple trees...?

[-] skulblaka@sh.itjust.works 22 points 6 days ago

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[-] twice_hatch@midwest.social 29 points 6 days ago

Unsurpassable power: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crabtree

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[-] OrteilGenou@lemmy.world 5 points 4 days ago

Concentrated sun energy sinks

[-] OpenStars@discuss.online 22 points 6 days ago

And it's not even one creature or even type of creature. Look up rhizobium.

Tbf, as we learn more about our gut microbiomes, it turns out that humans are that way as well. Maybe that's why we have the thoughts in our heads vs. the feelings in our guts... (no that's actually not it at all, except... isn't it though?).

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