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1.
Pick the closest relative of the SQUIRREL from these three animals:
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Mouse. Squirrels and mice belong to the order Rodentia (Rodents).
2.
Pick the closest relative of the GIRAFFE from these three animals:
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Okapi. Okapis and giraffes are the only living members of the family Giraffidae.
3.
Pick the closest relative of the GOAT from these three animals:
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Wildebeest (Gnu). Goats and wildebeest belong to the family Bovidae.
4.
Pick the closest relative of the CAMEL from these three animals:
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Llama. Camels and llamas belong to the family Camelidae.
5.
Pick the closest relative of the DOLPHIN from these three animals:
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Hippopotamus. Dolphins and hippos belong to the group Whippomorpha. (They are also both mammals, which sharks and lionfish are not.)
6.
Pick the closest relative of the SCORPION from these three animals:
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Spider. Scorpions and spiders belong to the class Arachnids.
7.
Pick the closest relative of the BEAR from these three animals:
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Seal. Bears and seals belong to the infraorder Arctoidea.
8.
Pick the closest relative of the PLATYPUS from these three animals:
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Echidna. Platypuses and echidnas are the only living Monotremes - egg-laying mammals of the order Monotremata.
9.
Pick the closest relative of the HYENA from these three animals:
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Cat. Hyenas and cats are part of the suborder Feliformia.
10.
Pick the closest relative of the ELEPHANT from these three animals:
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Manatee. Manatees and dugongs are the closest living relatives of elephants, and make up the Tethytheria clade. (The hyrax, centre, is the elephant's next closest relative!)
11.
Pick the closest relative of the KANGAROO from these three animals:
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Koala. Kangaroos and koalas are part of the order Diprotodontia (which is part of infraclass Marsupialia or Marsupials).
12.
Pick the closest relative of the SLOTH from these three animals:
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Anteater. Sloths and anteaters make up the order Pilosa.
13.
Pick the closest relative of the CROCODILE from these three animals:
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Penguin! Crocodilians and birds are archosaurs - a clade that included pterosaurs and dinosaurs (which birds are descended from).
14.
Pick the closest relative of the HUMAN from these three animals:
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Chimpanzee. Chimpanzees are the closest living relatives of humans, and together with bonobos make up the tribe Hominini.
Yeah, maybe too mean in places... I could make it easier. (Though I'm curious to see if anyone does go for penguin...!) Glad it was interesting, I find this stuff fascinating.
Well, as a biology teacher, I found the penguin one pretty easy because you keep talking about birds and crocodiles vs lizards and snakes when you teach phylogenetics.
I remember learning in Zoology about the whole "Reptilia is not a monophyletic clade, birds can be reptiles" etc... but even so the chameleon just seemed *so* much more obvious, so I couldn't resist!
Yeah, I think for someone who's fairly familiar with reptilian/bird evolution, that's one of the easiest questions on this quiz, but for the layman it's probably one of the least obvious... haha
Archosauria is a more specific group than Reptilia. The reason it looks wrong is because Reptilia is (traditionally) not a true monophyletic clade - a group comprising a common ancestor and all its descendants - but a paraphyletic grouping - one that doesn't include all the descendants of a common ancestor. In this case birds have traditionally been excluded.
However, to quote the Reptilia wiki page, "many paleontologists and herpetologists have redefined Reptilia as a monophyletic clade containing all modern reptiles (in the traditional sense), and any other descendant of their last common ancestor. This would include birds..." There are lots of articles out there on why birds are actually reptiles.
This quiz is looking for the most specific clade as per the caveat. I originally had a note specifying monophyletic clades and defining them but it felt a bit much (and clades are really monophyletic by definition I think). Could always put it back in though.
Thanks, have put it in a better fitting series. Picture quizzes with misleading animal names and other things. I recommend the animal emoji quiz for anyone wanting revenge after the crocodile question...
Dammit, picked the Hyrax as I thought I was being smart! Knew they were very closely related...
Got 11/14. Also got the Crocodile/Penguin wrong (which technically I knew so should’ve got right!) and also the hyaena and cat (which I didn’t know and is really interesting!).
I got the exact same answers as you. I also had heard the Hyrax thing, and completely ignored the other options when I saw it. Had no idea Hyena was in the cat family.
Thanks for this one. Really had a bee in my bonnet about the elephant/hyrax question till I realised that I have it the wrong way round. Although the elephant is the closest relative to a hyrax it isn't the same the other way round.
Thank you for this comment! I was wondering, because I heard the same thing for the hyrax - you saved me having to look it up myself. What an awesome quiz!
Though your use of the term "clade" does make it clear enough, maybe you could also add a caveat that this is based on Phylogenetic rather than Linnaean classification. Any old timers coming to this site may have grown up being taught the latter.
The older Linnean classifications feel a lot more intuitive and right to most people, but there's very little hard science behind them and they are subject to opinion and interpretation. The new system is better for that reason, but without knowledge of evolutionary biology (like knowing that birds evolved from, and technically are, dinosaurs; or that cetaceans such as whales and porpoises evolved from land animals that returned to life in the sea) - a lot of it sounds odd to the lay person.
I absolutely adore taxonomy so I was super excited seeing this on the home page! Still only got 12/14 (missed Elephant<->Manatee and Hyena<->Cat), but I am proud to be a part of the 7% that got Crocodile<->Penguin! :D
Proud to get the penguin one with my biology degree. I only got the elephant one wrong, just because I specifically remembered the hyrax and elephant being closely related from my chordate zoology class, so thought it was maybe a trick question.
Awesome Quiz! Very original and creative. I love quizzes where I actually learn something like this one. I would nominate it but is is already featured so five stars. Please make this quiz a series.
For anyone wondering, the human pictured is Charles Darwin (fitting for obvious reasons)
Fun and Tough
Nommed and 5 star ;D
Anyways, great quiz! Really made me think :)
Crocodile - Class Reptilia
Chameleon - Class Reptilia
Penguin - Class Aves
Doesn't seem consistent to me
However, to quote the Reptilia wiki page, "many paleontologists and herpetologists have redefined Reptilia as a monophyletic clade containing all modern reptiles (in the traditional sense), and any other descendant of their last common ancestor. This would include birds..." There are lots of articles out there on why birds are actually reptiles.
This quiz is looking for the most specific clade as per the caveat. I originally had a note specifying monophyletic clades and defining them but it felt a bit much (and clades are really monophyletic by definition I think). Could always put it back in though.
An observation - this quiz is associated to the Hidden Countries series, is that intentional?
Got 11/14. Also got the Crocodile/Penguin wrong (which technically I knew so should’ve got right!) and also the hyaena and cat (which I didn’t know and is really interesting!).
Please more like this.
I was also looking for a trick with the goat and llama so really should have just gone with my gut xD
No romantic relationship there
I don't remember much of taxonomy or Last Common Ancestor (if that's even the relevant factor)
I get the impression that if a quizmaker wanted you to fail, it'd be easy to do. (That matches the vague memory I have of taxonomy too)
I did well. I went by air-breathing, coats/pelts, geolocation.. general knowledge/familiarity.
Fun quiz, frustrating subject. Ty.