"Name that Animal" picture game.

Is it a type of eel?

Not an Eel. It's a type of fish. A very rare fish.

Is it an Oarfish?

Yes! It's an Oarfish. Brilliant.

I'm up.

Ok, here's the next one...

Something fuzzy this time. A glider, but not a squirrel.

Flying Lemur - Cynocephalus variegatus.

Correct. Wow, I thought that was going to be a tough one. Oh well, you're up.

Well, what's this one?

That appears to be a Feiffer Feffer Fef.

What a story, Jules!

Banteng

Rather easy, eh, Ros?

Well, I didn't know it off the top of my head, I still had to do a bit of searching to find it. I was pretty sure it was some type of cow, so that narrowed it down quite a bit.

I find it interesting that certain subtle characteristics of animals can hint at their relationship to other animals.

For example, when you posted the picture of the Roller Bird. I had never seen one before, but something about it reminded me of a kookaburra, so I started looking there.

Often times I'm not even aware of what I recognize in an animal, but general shapes make me think of other animals.

Another example is the African Wild Dog. I though of Hyena, even though I knew that wasn't quite right. So all I did was back up a little bit in the classification tree and start looking for a common point.

Years ago I was involved in Internet design and AI Search algorithms, so it's always been interesting to me how people search for information. The most difficult things to search for (on the net) are things which you recognize, but which you don't have a name for (thus the "name the animal game").

I believe Google is interested in something like this as well. They are testing an imagelabeler system, although, having played with it, I'm not sure it's going to get them very far.

It's an Ichneuman Wasp. An amazing critter. Wasps are evolved from Ants. You can still see the similarity in some of the body form.



The next post is up for grabs, anyone can go.

Forgot about the game..

What is it?

That's a tough one, let's see...

It's an insect (six legs, and antennae). I think it's got a thorax, though it's hard to distinguish. The head looks a bit like an ant, but the legs and body don't look like an ant or a termite.

I'm guessing some type of insect that inhabits the same type of environment as ants/termites.

It might also be a juvenile of something, which could be tough to identify with an insect.

Any clues?

Well, this one was found occupying an ants nest, in California.

But it's an adult.

I think I need another clue.