Corona Virus April Fool Puzzle

gentle lemur

gentle lemur

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
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.

Corona Virus April Fool Puzzle

Corona Virus April Fool Puzzle

See details in the Challenges, Quizzes, Competitions & Games forum.
  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.
 
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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?
 
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amur leopard said:
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?
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You have to try to work your way through all 4 parts. The most complete answer will be the winner.
 
lintworm said:
This was fun. Surprisingly, I found it easier than your other challenges.
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gentle lemur said:
Perhaps you missed something :)
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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
 
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:
 
This thread is now open for answers.

A little earlier than planned, as I have to run an errand for my elderly neighbours.
 
amur leopard said:
Do we write them here or via private messaging?
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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).
 
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.
 
I have just posted a second edition of the puzzle with photos showing more of the animals (or as much as I can show from the original images). The questions remain exactly the same and all previous answers are still valid, but can be improved if you have second thoughts about identification(s).
Judging and results in 24 hours time :)
Corona Virus April Fool Puzzle - easier images.

Corona Virus April Fool Puzzle - easier images.

Same questions - but the images show a bit more in most cases.
 
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.
 
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gentle lemur said:
1 Addax Addax nasomaculatus (Marwell)

2 Babirusa Babirusa celebensis (Chester)

3 Yemen chameleon Chameleo calyptratus (Chester)

4 Pearl danioDanio 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

(?)

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)



OK, 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.
Click to expand...

You threw me of with the Francolin, Erckel's Francolin is now called Pternistes erckelii basically everywhere.
 
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.
 
lintworm said:
You threw me of with the Francolin, Erckel's Francolin is now called Pternistes erckelii basically everywhere.
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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.
 
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 !
 
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