Guess the species (either common or Linnaean) by tweeting at us--we're @PopSci--and get your name listed right here! Plus eternal glory, obviously. Update: We have a winner!
By Dan Nosowitz Posted 11.30.2012 at 5:01 pm 6 Comments

Mystery Animal: November 30, 2012
Mystery Animal: November 30, 2012 via Flickr

So, here are the rules: To answer, follow us on Twitter and tweet at us with the hashtag #mysteryanimal. For example:

Hey @PopSci, is the #mysteryanimal a baboon?

And then I might say "if you think that's a baboon, perhaps you are the baboon!" But probably not, because this is a positive environment and all guesses are welcome and also this is not a very common animal so guess whatever you want!

The first person to get it right wins! We'll retweet the answer from @PopSci, and also update this post so your amazing animal knowledge will be permanently etched onto the internet. Show your kids! Your dumb kids who thought that was a baboon!

Update: And the winner is... @Katy_Stephenson, who correctly guessed the answer within five minutes. Wow!

So, this lovely creature is the Bukharan markhor, a large goat species that happens to be the national animal of Pakistan. It's extremely endangered--only about 2,500 left in the world--but well-known due to its impressive beard and amazing horns. The horns vary based on subspecies; some have very tightly curled horns, some have flatter, more gently curled horns, but all are pretty great. Hello markhor!

6 Comments

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phendersonPOPSCI
11/30/12 at 5:15 pm

Markhor Goat?

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Mechanic56
11/30/12 at 5:25 pm

Markhors (Capra falconeri)

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Mechanic56
11/30/12 at 5:27 pm

Google Makes Life To Easy.

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drchuck1
11/30/12 at 8:11 pm

congrats Katy, phendersonPOPSCI and Mechanic56 has the scientific name correct, their range is in and around the Himalayan Mountains, gotta love google, cheers

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African Rover
12/01/12 at 2:13 am

Many years ago, while hiking near Srinagar in Kashmir, one stumbled across me, I think it was more surprised than me. I feel privileged I had the luck to see one in the wild.

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Robot
12/03/12 at 9:00 pm

I would like to name the goat in this article Bill Clinton.



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