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04:34 Sep 19, 2016 |
Spanish to English translations [PRO] Science - Biology (-tech,-chem,micro-) / bats | |||||
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| Selected response from: Charles Davis Spain Local time: 11:09 | ||||
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3 +1 | functional structures |
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functional structures Explanation: This is not a standard biological term. In fact I can't find a single instance of it in anatomy apart from this, and I can't find any references to "telic structures" in English in this kind of context. "Télico" in Spanish, and "telic" in English, are only found as linguistic terms, applying to types of verbs and meaning verbs expressing purpose. That must give us a clue to what it means. "Telos" means ultimate aim, end or purpose. So "estructuras télicas" means structures serving or directed to a purpose: in this case, the nose leaf and pinna in bats are directed to the purpose of echolocation. But although there are some references to "purposive" or "purposeful" anatomical structures in older texts, I wouldn't use those words, since they tend imply a teleological (purpose-directed) view of evolution that modern biology rejects. I think "functional structures" would be the most suitable term. There's a relevant discussion of "purpose" versus "function" here: https://books.google.es/books?id=7jb6CAAAQBAJ&pg=PA60&lpg=PA... |
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