Strange Creature's Tribute to Tegus - Dice, Coloring, Scavenger Hunt!

[Nashawryn]

SPECIAL DELIVERY
Username : Nashawryn
Roll Results: 16, 1, 10, 16, 10
RP? Yes
Ticket Total: 6

[Scaramouche Fandango]

oh yeah i was gonna make an answer banner...

2. The word tegu comes from an indigenous word that means “lizard,” which is usually written as tejú or teyú and sometimes teiu… you get the idea. But which indigenous language family is this word from?

The word for tegu comes from Tupi-Guarani (I also accepted just Tupi and several related language families!). In fact, the genus name for the Columbian tegus directly refers to the Tupi people and language- Tupinambis.

Side note, I’ve been listening to a lot of music in Tupi recently; there's an active language preservation effort in Brazil's metal scene. The two that have hit the rotation the most are Arandu Arakuaa and Tupi Nambha.

[Scaramouche Fandango]

3. Tegus have some little North American cousins that do something special from a reproductive standpoint. Name one of them and tell me what it is, exactly, that they do.

To answer this question, go to the google form here and fill it out. You don't need to be logged in or give me an email address, but you do need to put your Matope user name in there. In 24 hours, this question will close, the answer will be announced, and the next question will be posted! This year there are 10 questions, so that's 10 chances to earn points for the final raffle and a shot at the first pick of the tegu kiokotes!

[Wyrm]

It had to be said that Bruise wasn't the biggest fan of lizards after one-too-many encounters with their larger, and far more dangerous, cousins. But he respected other kin's companions, and it would be churlish of him not to offer help with finding them food. Besides... the tengu were kind of cute.

[Wyrm]

SPECIAL DELIVERY
Username : Wyrm
Roll Results: 3, 1, 17, 13, 4
RP? Yes
Ticket Total: 6 tickets

[Scaramouche Fandango]

That's right, it's another game of "what lizard is this" while I round up tickets! Copy the code and tell me what they are and the first person to correctly ID the lizard gets a ticket for the end raffle!


This is Naga, and during the pandemic summer when I was at home, Mesker Park, the zoo down by my parents' place, was like the one place that was kinda open so I was down there so often that she started to recognize me. One big hint as to what this lizard is is that I'm PISSED that Chicago has THREE AZA facilities and NONE OF THESE. Tiny little Mesker in Evansville, Indiana, has TWO and Chicago can't even manage one

Code: Select all

[quote="Scaramouche Fandango"]
[imgwidth=500]https://64.media.tumblr.com/662412e25a912a8f3d988eaeac417168/tumblr_psdt942tFa1shl8uw_1280.jpg[/imgwidth]

It's a LIZARDNAME![/quote]

This is Clover, and she likes destroying frisbees and bobbing her head at people. These guys are named after the little horns on their snouts, although they're not really horns the same way that mammals have horns, since the keratin sheath isn't separate from their skin.

Code: Select all

[quote="Scaramouche Fandango"]
[imgwidth=500]https://zooinstitutes.com/img/animals/31/311570649831_31.jpg.pagespeed.ce.Y8HMTcHm1q.jpg[/imgwidth]

It's a LIZARDNAME![/quote]

[Lutz]

It's a Komodo Dragon!

[Scaramouche Fandango]

It's a Komodo Dragon!

Correct!

[rexcorvus]

It's a rhinoceros iguana!

[Scaramouche Fandango]

It's a rhinoceros iguana!

Correct!

[Scaramouche Fandango]

banner? what banner??

3. Tegus have some little North American cousins that also do something special from a reproductive standpoint. Name one of them and tell me what it is, exactly, that they do.


It's the north American whiptails! The New Mexican whiptails are especially cool- they've gotten rid of males entirely and are an all-female species! Let's go, lesbians!

You will notice I did not name any specific species outside of the New Mexicans, and that's because their biology is ALL kinds of messed up. So not only do they all do parthenogenesis, they can also do parthenogenesis-originated hybridization which is uh. Well. It breaks a lot of phylogeny, and we'll leave it at that. Scientists were able to create a parthenogenetic hybrid in the lab that was able to reproduce more of itself, which explains... a a lot about why there's seemingly so many hybrids/cryptic species. Anybody who answered with a whiptail is good!

[Scaramouche Fandango]

4. What Amazon species of tegu (give me the common name, please, don't worry about chasing down the Latin nomenclature) has a laterally-flattened tail?

To answer this question, go to the google form here and fill it out. You don't need to be logged in or give me an email address, but you do need to put your Matope user name in there. In 24 hours, this question will close, the answer will be announced, and the next question will be posted! This year there are 10 questions, so that's 10 chances to earn points for the final raffle and a shot at the first pick of the tegu kiokotes!

[Lirilei]

SPECIAL DELIVERY
Username : Lirilei
Roll Results: 8, 2, 3, 13, 3
RP? yes
Ticket Total: 6

Wool of Bat was enamored by the tegu and wanted to help feed them so she went out searching for what she hoped would pass as tasty food for them all. She managed to find a bunch of wild mustard greens at first and took them back, disappointed by the tegus looks. Her second attempt was even more disastrous and her heart sank seeing the tegus absolutely hated the jellyfish. Of course they did. Silly her. More searching turned up bananas, which were received well enough and she was happy about that! But that log, it took a lot of effort to get that back and she was delighted to see them enjoying the abandoned beehive and turtle eggs, her heart doing a happy little dance as the little animals ate. Delightful!

8. You’ve been looking everywhere but all you can come up with is some wild mustard greens. The tegus eat the ghastly greens but their glares make it obvious that they hate it. +1 ticket, they need to eat their salad.
2. Sea turtles like eating jellyfish, yeah? Maybe tegus will, too!

Oh, no, they hate it actually. No tickets.
3. Who doesn’t like a banana? The tegus devour it. +1 ticket.
13. Jackpot! You find a rotting log that has an abandoned beehive and a bunch of turtle eggs. Drag this whole thing back to the beach, and if you’re the first person to hit 13, help yourself to a familiar by quoting Scara. [Won by Kala!] Also (and for everyone after), +2 tickets.
3. Who doesn’t like a banana? The tegus devour it. +1 ticket.

[Scaramouche Fandango]

4. What Amazon species of tegu (give me the common name, please, don't worry about chasing down the Latin nomenclature) has a laterally-flattened tail?

It's the crocodile tegu!, Crocodilurus amazonicus,!



(I'm also accepting caiman lizard since National Zoo's got it out there that they do even though it's a good bit rounder in cross-section than what we see in crocodile tegus!)

[Scaramouche Fandango]

5. Caiman lizards have enormous blunt back teeth, because their diets are highly specialized. What’s the caiman lizard’s primary diet?

To answer this question, go to the google form here and fill it out. You don't need to be logged in or give me an email address, but you do need to put your Matope user name in there. In 24 hours, this question will close, the answer will be announced, and the next question will be posted! This year there are 10 questions, so that's 10 chances to earn points for the final raffle and a shot at the first pick of the tegu kiokotes!