June 11th Lockdown puzzle

Thanks for the clues! I think I've identified the right species now for all but one.

1 Bonobo (Pan paniscus)
2 Jamaican tody
3 Silvery pigeon
4 Blue-billed curassow
5 Lumholtz's tree kangaroo
6 Sun-tailed guenon
7 Cuban crocodile (Crocodylus rhombifer)
8 Candy-stripe loach
9 Pirapitinga (Piaractus brachypomus)
10 Blue-eyed cockatoo
11 Taita thrush
12 American alligator
13 Japanese serow
14 Galapagos Blue-footed booby
15 Tuatara
16 ???
17 Pronghorn
18 Butterfly lizard (Leiolepis sp.)
19 Patagonian mara
20 Tongan megapode

Problem with 18 is I found the exact image used, and the sites it's on (there are many) tag it as just Leiolepis Cuvier, meaning it's only identified to genus level. I couldn't find what the identifying features of each species are, so I can only surmise that this is a part of the challenge and perhaps the odd one out for some reason?

Try as I might, I can't identify 16 other than it's some sort of desert viper, and I'm guessing by your clue that it's not in the genus Bitis. It doesn't seem to fit Cerastes either.

My observation is that most of the species are endangered or vulnerable, but @gentle lemur has already suggested that. I don't see any other links.
 
Mo Hassan said:
Try as I might, I can't identify 16 other than it's some sort of desert viper, and I'm guessing by your clue that it's not in the genus Bitis.
Click to expand...

If you are using Wikipedia, it is probably best not to as the image on there of 16 is nothing like the one I have.
I'll give another picture of the butterfly lizard:

233671.jpg


Essentially, the image I used was in order to make it more difficult but it was taken in the same photoshoot as another image which was clearly labelled by the species' name, so that's why I used it. Hopefully the above picture might help a bit?

Absolutely right on the other ones. It seems two species are called the Pirapitinga and my photo is of the wrong one. I'm feeling rather stupid because I've already messed up the boobies, now this...
I can however assure you that the rest is sound, as I have checked over it again, and am genuinely sorry for that. Since you found the species in the photo, I'll just give you the species intended for it ;) : Brycon nattereri. I hope that helps in finding the odd one out: here is the most informative page on it, though it is in Spanish : Brycon nattereri : Pirapitinga. Hopefully I haven'y confused you too much with that mistake, but I would say that the feature you are looking for is normally found in the first paragraph of its Wikipedia article.

I'm sorry for these rather sketchy clues but I'm trying to find a balance between too easy and too cryptic. Apologies again for the (second) mistake. I think I'd better retire my puzzle setting career right now :D
 
Okay, then 16 is Leiolepis guttata, giant butterfly lizard.

Something just clicked. Gimme a few minutes to work on it!
 
Bonobo - endemic to Democratic Republic of the Congo
Jamaican tody - endemic to Jamaica
Silvery pigeon - endemic to Indonesia (but recorded from Malaysia?)
Blue-billed curassow - endemic to Colombia
Lumholtz's tree kangaroo - endemic to Australia
Sun-tailed guenon - endemic to Gabon
Cuban crocodile - endemic to Cuba
Candy-stripe loach - endemic to India
Pirapitinga - endemic to Brazil
Blue-eyed cockatoo - endemic to Indonesia
Taita thrush - endemic to Kenya
American alligator - endemic to USA
Japanese serow - endemic to Japan
Galapagos blue-footed booby - endemic to Ecuador
Tuatara - endemic to New Zealand
Viper?
Pronghorn - not endemic to one country
Giant butterfly lizard - endemic to Vietnam
Patagonian mara - endemic to Argentina
Tongan megapode - endemic to Tonga

So I surmise that assuming the viper is endemic to one African country and the silvery pigeon is not really found in Malaysia, the theme is all species are endemic to one country, there being four species from five different continents, EXCEPT for the pronghorn which is found in three North American countries. I would suggest the axolotl as a replacement, which is endemic to a small area in central Mexico.

Even if I happen to be wrong, don't give up on making quizzes! It's been fun and I've learned some things!
 
Well done @Mo Hassan :)

I pondered the idea of islands versus continents, but I couldn't make it work (incidentally the blue-eyed cockatoo is endemic to New Britain, which is a province of Papua New Guinea). I'm afraid that it proves that I am rotten at identifying reptiles, particularly vipers and crocs (even though at Paignton the salty is usually next door to the Cuban). I have some excuse with the butterfly agamas as I don't think I have ever seen one. Actually looking at the list I have only seen about half of the species - which is probably more than most ZooChatters (and I doubt if even @devilfish would get above 16 or 17).
Thank you @amur leopard - don't worry about slight errors, I have made them in most of my puzzles, in spite of trying to take the greatest care. This puzzle was really demanding and instructive.
 
gentle lemur said:
Well done @Mo Hassan :)

I pondered the idea of islands versus continents, but I couldn't make it work (incidentally the blue-eyed cockatoo is endemic to New Britain, which is a province of Papua New Guinea). I'm afraid that it proves that I am rotten at identifying reptiles, particularly vipers and crocs (even though at Paignton the salty is usually next door to the Cuban). I have some excuse with the butterfly agamas as I don't think I have ever seen one. Actually looking at the list I have only seen about half of the species - which is probably more than most ZooChatters (and I doubt if even @devilfish would get above 16 or 17).
Thank you @amur leopard - don't worry about slight errors, I have made them in most of my puzzles, in spite of trying to take the greatest care. This puzzle was really demanding and instructive.
Click to expand...

You're right of course about the cockatoo! I forgot to check and probably got confused with C. moluccensis. I've seen seven of the twenty (bonobo, curassow, crocodile, cockatoo, alligator, tuatara and pronghorn - only alligator was wild) and narrowly missed out on Japanese serow when it was at Highland Wildlife Park. I've seen one of the Leiolepis lizards somewhere (just checked, Leiolepis reevesii at Cologne). What were the ones you've seen?
 
Mo Hassan said:
What were the ones you've seen?
Click to expand...
Bonobo Y
Jamaican tody N
Silvery pigeon N
Blue-billed curassow I might have seen one many years ago (can't remember)
Lumholtz's tree kangaroo Y
Sun-tailed guenon N
Cuban crocodile Y
Candy-stripe loach I must have seen it in the aquarium shops at some stage
Pirapitinga Y (although I only realised that it was different from a pacu last year)
Blue-eyed cockatoo Y
Taita thrush N
American alligator Y
Japanese serow Y
Galapagos blue-footed booby N
Tuatara Y
Viper?
Pronghorn N
Giant butterfly lizard N
Patagonian mara Y
Tongan megapode N
 
Chlidonias said:
Where did you see one of these?
Click to expand...

I think he saw the species at Wilhelma about 45 years ago, if memory serves me correctly. They certainly held the species in the early 1970s, and he has posted photographs of other oddities present at the time.
 
Mo Hassan said:
Bonobo - endemic to Democratic Republic of the Congo
Jamaican tody - endemic to Jamaica
Silvery pigeon - endemic to Indonesia (but recorded from Malaysia?)
Blue-billed curassow - endemic to Colombia
Lumholtz's tree kangaroo - endemic to Australia
Sun-tailed guenon - endemic to Gabon
Cuban crocodile - endemic to Cuba
Candy-stripe loach - endemic to India
Pirapitinga - endemic to Brazil
Blue-eyed cockatoo - endemic to Indonesia
Taita thrush - endemic to Kenya
American alligator - endemic to USA
Japanese serow - endemic to Japan
Galapagos blue-footed booby - endemic to Ecuador
Tuatara - endemic to New Zealand
Viper?
Pronghorn - not endemic to one country
Giant butterfly lizard - endemic to Vietnam
Patagonian mara - endemic to Argentina
Tongan megapode - endemic to Tonga

So I surmise that assuming the viper is endemic to one African country and the silvery pigeon is not really found in Malaysia, the theme is all species are endemic to one country, there being four species from five different continents, EXCEPT for the pronghorn which is found in three North American countries. I would suggest the axolotl as a replacement, which is endemic to a small area in central Mexico.

Even if I happen to be wrong, don't give up on making quizzes! It's been fun and I've learned some things!
Click to expand...

gentle lemur said:
Well done @Mo Hassan :)

I pondered the idea of islands versus continents, but I couldn't make it work (incidentally the blue-eyed cockatoo is endemic to New Britain, which is a province of Papua New Guinea). I'm afraid that it proves that I am rotten at identifying reptiles, particularly vipers and crocs (even though at Paignton the salty is usually next door to the Cuban). I have some excuse with the butterfly agamas as I don't think I have ever seen one. Actually looking at the list I have only seen about half of the species - which is probably more than most ZooChatters (and I doubt if even @devilfish would get above 16 or 17).
Thank you @amur leopard - don't worry about slight errors, I have made them in most of my puzzles, in spite of trying to take the greatest care. This puzzle was really demanding and instructive.
Click to expand...

Yes indeed! And since you got an accurate replacement for it, you got it perfect! the third pattern was pretty minor but they all had to be endemic to different countries, so Axolotl was still correct, but had you said, say the Zapata rail or the Swamp rabbit it would have been incorrect due to that minor addition on the end ;)

@gentle lemur When you PM'd me saying that the Pronghorn was the odd one out the evening I set the puzzle I genuinely thought I had made it way too easy, but your solution was infinitely more intellectual :D

I might do another one, but if so, I would proof read and check it several times over before posting.

Oh, and the viper species was the Red adder, Bitis rubida, endemic to South Africa. A really nice species I discovered a while ago that I wanted to put into the puzzle as soon as I decided on the pattern. The Patagonian mara's range is probably the strangest of them all, it is found almost all over Argentina but just avoids the border with Chile. It's as if they're averse to other countries but ready to colonise them nonetheless :p
Finally the Silvery pigeon was rediscovered in Indonesia, but used to found in Malaysia as well :)

Thank you for participating, and for your patience, I was very impressed with the IDs for the Silvery pigeon, the Taita thrush, the Zebra loach and the Pirapitinga. The thrush was a species I encountered while looking up the wildlife of Kenya and I picked it among the horde of endemics to specific Kenyan mountains. The Silvery pigeon I found via this website: Living National Treasures: HOME, and the loach was just prior knowledge and one of the few species of smaller bony fishes I can identify off the bat.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
I think he saw the species at Wilhelma about 45 years ago, if memory serves me correctly. They certainly held the species in the early 1970s, and he has posted photographs of other oddities present at the time.
Click to expand...
Yes indeed. I even have a photo to prove it - but it's well out of focus :( Who remembers manual focus?
I saw several strange creatures at Wilhelma that day in 1973, particularly marsupials - spotted cuscus, New Guinea mountain wallabies and an energetic devil, plus my first mountain tapir.
 
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