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Pick a Picture - Animal Relations

For each named animal, pick the animal most closely related to it from the three below.
 
BEWARE! Looks can be deceiving and closest relatives may live in different continents/environments
Closest relatives share the most specific taxanomic clade e.g. Rodents is more specific than Mammals
Check the explanations afterwards for more info
Quiz by overtired
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Last updated: April 2, 2021
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First submittedMarch 4, 2021
Times taken35,304
Average score57.1%
Rating4.95
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1.
         Pick the closest relative of the SQUIRREL from these three animals:
Mouse. Squirrels and mice belong to the order Rodentia (Rodents).
2.
         Pick the closest relative of the GIRAFFE from these three animals:
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:
Wildebeest (Gnu). Goats and wildebeest belong to the family Bovidae.
4.
           Pick the closest relative of the CAMEL from these three animals:
Llama. Camels and llamas belong to the family Camelidae.
5.
         Pick the closest relative of the DOLPHIN from these three animals:
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:
Spider. Scorpions and spiders belong to the class Arachnids.
7.
           Pick the closest relative of the BEAR from these three animals:
Seal. Bears and seals belong to the infraorder Arctoidea.
8.
         Pick the closest relative of the PLATYPUS from these three animals:
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:
Cat. Hyenas and cats are part of the suborder Feliformia.
10.
         Pick the closest relative of the ELEPHANT from these three animals:
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:
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:
Anteater. Sloths and anteaters make up the order Pilosa.
13.
         Pick the closest relative of the CROCODILE from these three animals:
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:
Chimpanzee. Chimpanzees are the closest living relatives of humans, and together with bonobos make up the tribe Hominini.
+9
Level 84
Mar 4, 2021
Big thanks to Stewart for help with CSS!
+29
Level 52
Mar 4, 2021
Wow, very nice!

For anyone wondering, the human pictured is Charles Darwin (fitting for obvious reasons)

+14
Level 52
Mar 4, 2021
This quiz was a great refresher from the normal quizzes that plague the RUQ (hint: fast typing and "easiest quiz ever" types of quizzes)
+4
Level 15
Apr 8, 2021
I noticed that. I actually just learned about Charles Darwin and evolution in bio today haha
+21
Level 75
Mar 4, 2021
Just two words can cover this quiz:

Fun and Tough

Nommed and 5 star ;D

+5
Level 84
Mar 4, 2021
Thanks!
+6
Level 72
Mar 4, 2021
Very original idea for a quiz! You get a nomination from me. :)
+9
Level 84
Mar 4, 2021
Very tough, but super interesting! (ain't nobody gonna guess penguin)
+5
Level 84
Mar 4, 2021
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.
+8
Level 64
Apr 3, 2021
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.
+5
Level 71
Apr 3, 2021
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!

Anyways, great quiz! Really made me think :)

+8
Level 72
Apr 5, 2021
No, keep the crocodile/penguin question, it's tough but I like when I learn something from a quiz
+1
Level 45
Oct 12, 2021
I actually got somewhat into the topic a few years ago so it was fairly easy for me but I still almost fell for the obvious trap.
+2
Level 49
Mar 16, 2022
to be fair, many people are interested in dinosaurs. And if your interested its not that difficult to guess.
+3
Level 58
May 4, 2022
I knew birds are descended from dinosaurs but I also knew other reptiles existed at the time, too- like crocodiles. Made a wrong assumption
+2
Level 57
Apr 6, 2021
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
+2
Level 53
Aug 3, 2021
I agree that was wicked! I was thinking reptile all the way.
+19
Level ∞
Mar 4, 2021
Tough but good! I ALMOST went for penguin for the crocodile question but I decided to go for the more obvious chameleon, wrongly as it turns out.
+2
Level 65
Jul 12, 2021
No
+1
Level 72
Mar 4, 2021
Well, that was fast! Congrats on the feature. :)
+1
Level 84
Mar 4, 2021
Thank you :)
+2
Level 74
Mar 4, 2021
So you go off of taxonomic classification for all of these questions except for the crocodile question?

Crocodile - Class Reptilia

Chameleon - Class Reptilia

Penguin - Class Aves

Doesn't seem consistent to me

+19
Level 84
Mar 4, 2021
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.

+3
Level 86
Mar 4, 2021
Reptilia is sort of a "wastebasket taxon." In other words, when it leaves out Aves, it doesn't include all creatures that share a common ancestor.
+5
Level 74
Mar 4, 2021
Interesting. Thanks for the explanation! I never knew about the monophyletic vs. paraphyletic grouping.
+1
Level 84
Mar 4, 2021
Really fun quiz! Feel fortunate to have gotten all but the two least guessed. Tricky!
+1
Level 91
Mar 4, 2021
Great quiz!!

An observation - this quiz is associated to the Hidden Countries series, is that intentional?

+1
Level 84
Mar 4, 2021
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...
+4
Level 86
Mar 4, 2021
That was really sneaky, putting in the hyrax. Still 15/15.
+4
Level 88
Mar 5, 2021
Yeh thought I was being really smart answering that one.
+1
Level 87
Mar 4, 2021
No 15/15 for me. I definitely didn't get the penguin one.
+1
Level 65
Mar 4, 2021
Interesting.
+6
Level 68
Mar 5, 2021
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!).

+2
Level 53
Apr 3, 2021
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.
+1
Level 88
Mar 5, 2021
Wow, the penguin one was unexpected!
+1
Level 71
Mar 8, 2021
Great interesting quiz, it's put me right off penguins from now on.
+2
Level 73
Mar 8, 2021
Great quiz, because you picked such interesting examples. Almost every one was challenging even with only three choices. Nice work.
+1
Level 88
Mar 9, 2021
Thanks for the interesting, different and illuminating quiz! I gave it five stars. 😊
+2
Level 79
Mar 10, 2021
Really nice idea for a quiz.
+2
Level 70
Mar 12, 2021
The thing don't load on my screen I just have to guess
+2
Level 82
Mar 12, 2021
It seems all MCQs lost their images.
+3
Level 31
Mar 13, 2021
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.
+2
Level 68
Apr 3, 2021
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!
+1
Level 57
Mar 18, 2021
Some of these are ridiculously easy (like ) and then you include both hyrax and manatee...
+2
Level 82
Apr 3, 2021
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.
+1
Level 61
Apr 3, 2021
Heck, I graduated high school in 2012 and I don't remember hearing the term "clade" once until college.
+3
Level 82
Apr 4, 2021
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.
+3
Level 73
Apr 3, 2021
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
+2
Level 54
Apr 3, 2021
Okay...the crocodile one realllly threw me.
+1
Level 64
Apr 3, 2021
Last question might cause some arguments, but overall great quiz!
+1
Level 68
Apr 3, 2021
Always an amazing quiz to take! You should make more!
+1
Level 53
Apr 3, 2021
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.
+2
Level 74
Apr 5, 2021
I don't think I have ever seen a multiple choice question under 10% let alone 5%
+1
Level 65
Apr 7, 2021
I was sure cute lil kitties could NOT be related to hyenas! So much for that.
+1
Level 18
May 4, 2021
Great, Realy something different, than other quizzes.

Please more like this.

+1
Level 48
May 28, 2021
I should have guessed the penguin. A lot of the ancient reptiles evolved into birds >.<

I was also looking for a trick with the goat and llama so really should have just gone with my gut xD

+1
Level 61
Jul 27, 2021
Got all of them except for the hyena. Although the rock hyrax almost threw me...
+1
Level 67
Aug 18, 2021
Bears are actually more closely related to seals than to dogs.
+1
Level 59
Sep 22, 2021
This quiz is amazing! It needs a sequel
+1
Level 21
May 6, 2022
Only Got 2 lol, please dont compare yours to mine with a reply because I’m sure your score is better
+1
Level 33
Nov 13, 2022
Got everyone, should too. I study zoology... great quiz btw ;)
+1
Level 75
Dec 3, 2022
You normally find loads of Creationist comments on this kind of thing. Quite refreshing not to see a single one
+1
Level 20
Jan 12, 2023
Crocs and penguins

No romantic relationship there

+1
Level 68
Jan 19, 2023
Did the penguin picture for the croc question not load for anyone else?
+1
Level 84
Jan 19, 2023
Loading fine for me
+1
Level 66
Mar 29, 2023
So what connections can you use to make educated guesses?

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.

+1
Level 40
Apr 28, 2023
only 3 incorrect, good quiz from polandinio. I only knew that Hyenas were between dogs and cats, not closer to the latter
+2
Level 39
Mar 4, 2024
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.