[Theo]

... "kind" simply wasn't the sort of thing we've come to expect out of our modern word "species".

Agreed. Of course, I don't know of anyone who believes that Straw Man.

At the same time, I have to disagree with your argument that "kind" merely refers to "animal" or "plant" (large categories). Scripture is clear (as I mentioned earlier) that there were a variety of "kinds" of "animals," for example....

[muawiyah]

Yes, your brain has sortation and filing capabilities so it does tend to categorize critters even if they're not different.