EDIT: Reblogs are off to prevent the spread of misinformation, as the original wording of this post incorrectly conflated "physical therian" and "physical nonhuman", lacked context, and used medicalized language. A new version will be posted once I ensure I have wording that accurately represents the physical nonhuman community! If you have the original post on your blog I would appreciate if you could delete it and reblog the new version once I post it.
I've been seeing a lot of confusion about the distinction between some commonly-used terms, so:
Therian/Therianthrope: Someone who feels that they are a nonhuman animal or animal-like creature in some way. Any therian may feel either completely nonhuman or both human and nonhuman.
Physical Nonhuman: Someone who feels that their physical body is literally nonhuman in some way*, such as having nonhuman body parts (internal or external) or experiencing physical transformations. The physical nonhuman community has historically been separate from the therian and otherkin communities due to physical identity being ostracized in those spaces. More information about this term is here.
Holothere: A physical nonhuman who identifies as entirely nonhuman. This term can be used as either a standalone identity or as a modifier (e.g. "holotheric therian"). More information about this term is here.
Physical Therian: This term does not have an agreed-upon meaning, and is currently used to refer both to typical therian experiences and to physical nonhumanity. It was popularized by therians who co-opted physical nonhuman identity and is generally associated with misinformation by people in the physical nonhuman community.
Transspecies: A term for identifying as nonhuman that is generally associated with being more openly nonhuman in one's daily life, but is sometimes just used as a synonym for therian or otherkin. Common reasons someone may choose to identify as transspecies include: experiencing species dysphoria, having a desire to "transition" toward nonhumanity through body modification, lifestyle changes, and/or socially (e.g. by using vivterms), wanting to deconstruct social species norms, or being both nonhuman and transgender and seeing those experiences as similar or linked. Most transspecies people view themselves as being entirely nonhuman, which may or may not include their physical body. This term can be used as either a standalone identity or as a modifier (e.g. "transspecies therian"). This term is entirely unrelated to tr*nsID identities and existed long before that community formed.
Phantom Shift/Phantom Limbs: Feeling the presence of limbs or features (such as a tail or feathers) that do not exist in physical reality; a "shift" refers to experiencing phantom parts that are not always present. A person experiencing phantom parts may be able to "see" them in their minds eye, but will know that they aren't physically there. Phantom body parts may react to physical reality and give sensory feedback, but they cannot physically interact with anything and often pass through objects like a ghost. Phantom body parts are a common experience for all types of therians and many other types of alterhumans. Some therians feel the presence of phantom parts 24/7, while others only feel them occasionally. Not all therians experience phantom shifts/parts, however, and not everyone who feels animalistic phantom parts is a therian.
Physical Shift: Feeling and/or seeing one's bodily features literally, physically change. Physical shifts are experienced in someone's subjective (personal) reality, and have never been documented to occur in consensus (shared) reality. Physical shifts are a common experience for many physical nonhumans and may be the basis for someone's physical identity.
*Note: While it has become common for people to use metaphorical explanations like "I'm a bird so this is a bird's body" as a reason for identifying as physically nonhuman, the term "physical nonhuman" represents the marginalized community of people who experience being literally physically nonhuman. For more information about how this issue has damaged the physical nonhuman community and what kinds of experiences are considered physical identity, see this post.
Please note that I am not a physical nonhuman, you should direct any questions you have about physical nonhumanity to people within that community and not me.
