Mystery Animal Contest: October 26th, 2012
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!
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: The winner is…@PSoum, who correctly identified this animal as a bush dog! The bush dog is native to Central and South America, though it’s primarily found in Brazil, where it’s known, oddly, as cachorro-vinagre, or “vinegar dog.” It’s a basal species of canid, quite primitive–it was originally found in the fossil record and thought to be extinct–and becoming more and more rare. Its closest relative is the awkward-looking maned wolf.