I'm studying insects at the moment and came across a couple of cracking beetles:

I'm studying insects at the moment and came across a couple of cracking beetles:

Peacock - not a vegetable.
Oh yes look at this bird with its mostly white plumage, except for the males during the mating season. What should I call it, I know I shall call it the black-headed gull. A fitting name. Hopefully we don't come across a different gull with a black head year round, or that name is going to be stupid, but I'm sure that won't happen.
Sea Lion - not a Lion.
So you are telling me that Mayfly may or may not fly?
Not sure what the original source of this was, other than an old tumblr post 
A mountain goat is a goat, it's just not in genus Capra.
Fun trip and interesting trip through taxonomy, though, in addition to the gags. A collection of wikipedia articles would be a nice companion.
Context is what matters, I agree, except in contexts where the difference is important (conservation, biology, ecology)
it's just not in genus Capra
That's definitionally what goats are. It's close, being in the same subfamily, but then so are sheep.
Common names of animals often describe phenotype not genotype. If it looks like a ducks, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's common name is duck. There are lots of animals with common names grouping them by physical characteristics and ecological niche rather than genetic relationship, especially animals named longed before we had any real scientific study of their genetics.
I think words like "goat" should have a generic and unstudied applicability: if it looks like a goat, and acts like a goat, it's a goat.
A mountain goat looks like a goat and acts like a goat, therefore it is a goat.
A sheep neither looks like a goat, nor acts like a goat, therefore it is not a goat.
All semantics, of course. If you want to understand goat to mean "member of genus Capra", you certainly can. If you want me to make goat mean that, you're out of luck.
I'm willing to grant you the distinctions between goats and true goats, in deference to the science of biology. I am not a monster.
I'm willing to grant you the distinctions between goats and true goats, in deference to the science of biology.
Well that's my point: this post is about how common names contrast with actual, rigid taxonomical definitions. :p
Like the colloquial word "goat" fits, but your comment read to me, given the context of the post, like you were saying goats can exist outside Capra via a technical definition, which isn't true.
Also this post is a joke, as King Bird isn't taxonomically defined.
Do people not consider May to be between Spring and Summer? Legit confused here.
It May Fly, but does it???
Does it????
Hmmmm... The guide didn't say the mountain goat isn't a mountain... So I guess I'll go catch me me own mountain!
Mayfly indeed may fly, give it a pass!
most south american "foxes" arnt true foxes, genus vulpes they have thier own lineages. new world porcupine isnt actually closely related to old world porcupine(different evolution ).
extinct american cheetah, wasnt actually a cheetah but a PUMA relative, a different species.
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