Hi guys!
First of all, thanks to @Vision and @KevinVar for moderating the Europe challenges so well these past few years, and thanks to them for passing 'the keys' to me!
So, not only a new year, but a new decade! And what better way to start a new decade than with a new challenge!
Whilst Island Endemics was a very popular choice last year, to start off my time as a challenge mod I figured it would be best to return to the challenge's roots - a taxonomic group (of sorts)! But since people like broader topics than say, just bears or just penguins, let's go with the broadest (mammalian) topic of all....
"Miscellaneous Mammals."
This year’s theme will be Miscellaneous Mammals. This is a group that doesn't get as much love as the classic larger orders of mammals do (mostly), frequently some of these animals are just skipped over because of how 'common' they are (looking at you red-necked wallaby and Linnaeus' two-toed sloth!), so this should be interesting to take part in! Whilst this is a mammals task again my hope is that just like last year, because this theme is very broad, this challenge will reach out to as many people as possible, and make people stop and stare at the smaller critters to be found in various collections!
To further clarify the theme: any of the following categories count:
- Monotremata (monotremes)
- Marsupialia (marsupials)
- Afrosoricida (tenrecs)
- Eulipotyphla (shrews/hedgehogs/moles)
- Macroscelidea (elephant shrews/sengis)
- Chiroptera (bats)
- Scandentia (treeshrews)
- Pilosa (anteaters/sloths)
- Cingulata (armadillos)
- Pholidota (pangolins)
- Lagomorpha (rabbits/hares/pikas)
- Rodentia (rodents)
- Tubulidentata (aardvark)
- Hyracoidea (hyraxes)
To prevent discussions about taxonomies and certain lists accepting certain splits while others don’t, I will be using IUCN as a reference; in addition to this only species-level will count (so even if you do see both the koalas at Longleat and koalas at any other zoo in Europe, it will only count as one addition). If there is some disagreement about the taxonomic status of zoo-stock (if the species are potential hybrids/potentially listed incorrectly as a different species) then I will count it on a "sensu lato" basis, though I can't picture any species off the top of my head where this should be a problem.
As is always the way, the same set of challenge rules apply, with credits to Shorts for originally coming up with them:
1. You have to actually see the animal, even if just for a second. You don't score if you visit a collection but don't see the animal (harsh, but fair);
2. Proof via photographs is not required, your word is your bond;
3. You have to see the animal via normal public access (i.e. not including zookeeper for the day or photography days behind the scenes) during normal public opening hours (i.e. no scoring because you know the keeper and can get access before/after hours). Basically the species has to be seen as Joe Public would (so sorry to anyone who was planning an offshow to Plzen, it won't count
);
4. Only collections located in what is geographically Europe will count in this challenge (including Iceland, the UK, Ireland, the Mediterranean islands, but excluding Georgia, Russia, Azerbaijan and Turkey to avoid conflicts about what is and isn't 'Europe.')
5. Report/update your progress on this thread as you go along;
6. The winner will be deemed to be the person(s) who's seen the most at 31st December 2020;
7. My decision on any questions is final, but I am open to discussion and debate on any specific points.
This challenge is solely for fun, but this year there will be a prize.....a virtual cake! It's like a real cake but well....virtual.
Cheers all, hope everyone has a great time, and let's kick this decade off with a blast!
First of all, thanks to @Vision and @KevinVar for moderating the Europe challenges so well these past few years, and thanks to them for passing 'the keys' to me!
So, not only a new year, but a new decade! And what better way to start a new decade than with a new challenge!
Whilst Island Endemics was a very popular choice last year, to start off my time as a challenge mod I figured it would be best to return to the challenge's roots - a taxonomic group (of sorts)! But since people like broader topics than say, just bears or just penguins, let's go with the broadest (mammalian) topic of all....
"Miscellaneous Mammals."
This year’s theme will be Miscellaneous Mammals. This is a group that doesn't get as much love as the classic larger orders of mammals do (mostly), frequently some of these animals are just skipped over because of how 'common' they are (looking at you red-necked wallaby and Linnaeus' two-toed sloth!), so this should be interesting to take part in! Whilst this is a mammals task again my hope is that just like last year, because this theme is very broad, this challenge will reach out to as many people as possible, and make people stop and stare at the smaller critters to be found in various collections!
To further clarify the theme: any of the following categories count:
- Monotremata (monotremes)
- Marsupialia (marsupials)
- Afrosoricida (tenrecs)
- Eulipotyphla (shrews/hedgehogs/moles)
- Macroscelidea (elephant shrews/sengis)
- Chiroptera (bats)
- Scandentia (treeshrews)
- Pilosa (anteaters/sloths)
- Cingulata (armadillos)
- Pholidota (pangolins)
- Lagomorpha (rabbits/hares/pikas)
- Rodentia (rodents)
- Tubulidentata (aardvark)
- Hyracoidea (hyraxes)
To prevent discussions about taxonomies and certain lists accepting certain splits while others don’t, I will be using IUCN as a reference; in addition to this only species-level will count (so even if you do see both the koalas at Longleat and koalas at any other zoo in Europe, it will only count as one addition). If there is some disagreement about the taxonomic status of zoo-stock (if the species are potential hybrids/potentially listed incorrectly as a different species) then I will count it on a "sensu lato" basis, though I can't picture any species off the top of my head where this should be a problem.
As is always the way, the same set of challenge rules apply, with credits to Shorts for originally coming up with them:
1. You have to actually see the animal, even if just for a second. You don't score if you visit a collection but don't see the animal (harsh, but fair);
2. Proof via photographs is not required, your word is your bond;
3. You have to see the animal via normal public access (i.e. not including zookeeper for the day or photography days behind the scenes) during normal public opening hours (i.e. no scoring because you know the keeper and can get access before/after hours). Basically the species has to be seen as Joe Public would (so sorry to anyone who was planning an offshow to Plzen, it won't count
);4. Only collections located in what is geographically Europe will count in this challenge (including Iceland, the UK, Ireland, the Mediterranean islands, but excluding Georgia, Russia, Azerbaijan and Turkey to avoid conflicts about what is and isn't 'Europe.')
5. Report/update your progress on this thread as you go along;
6. The winner will be deemed to be the person(s) who's seen the most at 31st December 2020;
7. My decision on any questions is final, but I am open to discussion and debate on any specific points.
This challenge is solely for fun, but this year there will be a prize.....a virtual cake! It's like a real cake but well....virtual.
Cheers all, hope everyone has a great time, and let's kick this decade off with a blast!
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