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Corona Virus April Fool Puzzle

Discussion in 'Quizzes, Competitions & Games' started by gentle lemur, 1 Apr 2020.

  1. gentle lemur

    gentle lemur Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I hope this will entertain some people who are getting bored in isolation. I am posting it just before noon on April 1st (British Summer Time) but it is not really intended to fool anyone, just to make people think hard and research a little, if necessary.
    There are several steps to solving the puzzle, once you have looked at the large version of the images in the Games, Simulators and Quizzes Gallery.

    1. Identify the animals in the photos, as far as possible.
    2. Find what these species have in common.
    3. Work out the significance of the order. This should help you to identify the harder images.
    4. Suggest further species that I would need need to photograph to complete the set.
    I realise this is complicated, so to give everyone a chance I suggest that you do not post your answers in this thread until after noon on Sunday April 6th (BST or 11.00 UST/GMT).
    I will judge the answers in one weeks time, and just to make the things a little more interesting, I will give a sort of prize to the winner - I will donate £25, or the equivalent in another currency, to the animal collection or animal charity of the winner's choice, to support their work during the current Corona virus crisis.
     
    Last edited: 1 Apr 2020
  2. amur leopard

    amur leopard Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Got it but won't post for now :)
    Thanks for posting this :)
    Is the challenge to name all the species plus suggest a few species to go after or is it to just suggest the extra species?
     
    Last edited: 1 Apr 2020
  3. gentle lemur

    gentle lemur Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    You have to try to work your way through all 4 parts. The most complete answer will be the winner.
     
  4. lintworm

    lintworm Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    This was fun. Surprisingly, I found it easier than your other challenges.
     
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  5. gentle lemur

    gentle lemur Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Perhaps you missed something :)
     
  6. amur leopard

    amur leopard Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    The pattern is definitely easier to find than the crossword with the people's names, but I admit I did take a while trying to identify the fish and one of the birds, but then again I'm awful at IDs as my occasional wanders into the Zoochat Big Year threads have shown :D
     
  7. gentle lemur

    gentle lemur Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    My apologies to everyone I should have said the start date for answers her should read Sunday April 5th. I got it right in the Gallery, but wrong in this thread :oops:
     
  8. gentle lemur

    gentle lemur Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    This thread is now open for answers.

    A little earlier than planned, as I have to run an errand for my elderly neighbours.
     
  9. amur leopard

    amur leopard Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Do we write them here or via private messaging?
     
  10. gentle lemur

    gentle lemur Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I don't mind - but everyone will see your answers if you post them here. I have received and replied to your PM response. I think it best to name people who answer by PM in this thread pour encourager les autres (to quote Voltaire, if I remember correctly).
     
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  11. gentle lemur

    gentle lemur Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    @Mo Hassan has sent me a set of answers. There's time for plenty more :)
     
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  12. gentle lemur

    gentle lemur Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I have received a nice set of answers from @lintworm - but not quite 100% correct, so I hope for more.
     
  13. gentle lemur

    gentle lemur Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Answers received from @ZooBinh.
    I have given him a little hint and I will do the same for anyone else who needs a little extra. In about 24 hours time I will post more recognisable images of the animals to help strugglers - although most of them are not awfully hard.
     
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  14. gentle lemur

    gentle lemur Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I have had another fine set of answers from @FunkyGibbon - it's going to be tough to pick a winner.
     
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  15. gentle lemur

    gentle lemur Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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  16. gentle lemur

    gentle lemur Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Here are the answers:-
    1 Addax Addax nasomaculatus (Marwell)

    2 Babirusa Babirusa celebensis (Chester)

    3 Yemen chameleon Chameleo calyptratus (Chester)

    4 Pearl danio Danio albolineatus (private collection)

    5 Little egret Egretta garzetta (wild)

    6 Erckel's francolin Francolinus erckelii (Harewood)

    7 Tokay gecko Gecko gecko (Paignton)

    8 Striped hyaena Hyaena hyaena (Colchester)

    9 Green iguana Iguana iguana (Twycross)

    10 Julie Julidochromis species 'Gombe' * (private collection)

    11 Chattering lory Lorius garrulus (Chester)

    12 Golden mantella Mantella aurantiaca (Manchester Museum)

    13 Rufous-bellied niltava Niltava sundara (Newquay)

    14 Common octopus Octopus vulgaris (National Marine Aquarium)

    15 Red bird of paradise Paradisea rubra (Chester)

    16 Red-billed quelea Quelea quelea (Paignton)

    17 Brown rat Rattus norvegicus (wild)

    18 Atlantic salmon (parr) Salmo salar (Slimbridge)

    19 Red-crested turaco Tauraco erythrolophus (Chester)

    20 Uaru cichlid Uaru amphiacanthoides (London)

    21 Long-nosed viper Vipera ammodytes (London)

    22 Swamp wallaby Wallabia bicolor (Edinburgh)

    23 Lake Oku xenopus frog Xenopus longipes (London)

    I hope the table makes clear that the connection between these creatures is that their English name is the same as, or very similar to, the systematicname of their genus.
    OK, I admit that I cheated a bit with the last one, it should really be a clawed frog, but people do say Xenopus sometimes. I thought of doing Zosterops for the 24th, but that would have been going too far, particularly as there are so many species which look so similar which have put people off.
    The hardest ones were J (the only alternative to the Julie would have been a Jabiru, but I have never seen one) and N (I was glad I had some images of the Niltava).

    * this race of Julie is unusual. There are 5 descibed species which have several races each, but they all have horizontal stripes or checquered markings. This race is sometimes ascribed to J. marlieri, which is larger, or to J. transcriptus, which is smaller. DNA tests might even show that it's a new species. I used this image because it was already scanned, my photos of the others would have taken much longer to process.
     
    Last edited: 9 Apr 2020
  17. lintworm

    lintworm Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    You threw me of with the Francolin, Erckel's Francolin is now called Pternistes erckelii basically everywhere.
     
  18. gentle lemur

    gentle lemur Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Judging was tricky. Most people got most of the species right and some answers were almost perfect. Spotting the connection was harder, the alphabetical idea was pretty clear but the the generic names were not mentioned in some entries.
    The tie-breaker was naming species for the letters K, Y and Z. Everyone suggested Kob and a Yuhina, and those were the ones I would have liked to include, but I did not have photos of them (in fact I don't remember ever seeing them). Z is trickier, there were 3 suggestions:
    • a Zenaida dove, which was a good answer. I have photos of Socorro doves, but they wouldn't really work.
    • Zeledonia coronata, which I admit that I had never heard of before, but as its common name is the wrenthrush it isn't qualified
    • the Zingel (Zingel zingel) which was a brilliant answer, I thought it was still in the genus Aspro, but my only book about European fishes is very old.
    The only alternative I could find was the Zebra goby (Zebrus zebrus) from the eastern Mediterranean. So I hope that one day I will get the chance to photograph these species.

    The best set of answers and the suggestion of the Zingel came from @lintworm. So we have a winner. Congratulations! I will be in touch to find where the prize money should go.

    My thanks and my respect to everyone who took part.
     
  19. gentle lemur

    gentle lemur Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Mea culpa :(
    I still have the old name in my files (it's an old photo from 2007). I did spot the change on ZTL after posting the images, but it was too late, and Francolinus was still mentioned there. I apologise.
     
  20. Mo Hassan

    Mo Hassan Well-Known Member Premium Member 5+ year member

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    It was a fun challenge and a nice distraction from the doom and gloom of late. I suspected they were all photos from your personal collection, so it makes sense that you would be missing a few letters. Excellent quiz; can't wait for another!

    Congratulations @lintworm !