[sittnick]

A 50,000 year old member of the equus genus would likely not have been able to easily breed with a modern horse. Equine evolution has been remarkably well documented.

A 2,000,000 year old modern horse (Equus stenonis) was believed to have been found in Italy.

Huh? Peanuts are not nuts, they are legumes. I don't believe that there is any taxonimical controversy over their classification.

The world is a lot bigger than taxonomy, which is a man-made construct. Nutritionally they are regarded as nuts, and are nutritionally classified in the meat group. Taxonomical categorization is only ONE way of thousands to categorize things. It is often impractical and dopey to insist on taxonomical classification, which is why a jar of mixed nuts can be up to 50% peanuts. If your grocery store put the Planters' peanuts by the lentils, it might be right according to the current system of taxonomy, but it would drive the customers crazy.

[Alter Kaker]

Nutritionally they are regarded as nuts, and are nutritionally classified in the meat group.

I can't believe you're making me argue that peanuts are not meat. My suggestion: go get a peanut plant. Look at it. The peanuts are encased in pods. It developes from a singal carpel. That makes it a legume, by definition. This is not a complicated concept. Take Botany 101. Grocers may refer to peanuts as nuts, but they're grocers, not botanists, and they're wrong.

A 2,000,000 year old modern horse (Equus stenonis) was believed to have been found in Italy.

Wrong. Equus stenonis was not modern (modern horses are Equus caballus), but an earlier species. It was likely a distant ancestor of modern horses, but it was not a modern horse by any stretch of the imagination.

[Virginia-American]

alterkaker: Huh? Peanuts are not nuts, they are legumes. I don't believe that there is any taxonimical controversy over their classification.

sittnick: The world is a lot bigger than taxonomy, which is a man-made construct. Nutritionally they are regarded as nuts, and are nutritionally classified in the meat group. Taxonomical categorization is only ONE way of thousands to categorize things. It is often impractical and dopey to insist on taxonomical

But not in a discussion about evolution.