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

Posted: **Fri Dec 06, 2024 10:03 pm**

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

They eat mollusks! They specialize in snails, freshwater clams, crawfish, things like that. Anything that's along those lines counts.

(the video on the first page was a clue!

Posted: **Fri Dec 06, 2024 10:08 pm**

6. There are two gorgeous little species of dwarf tegu in the genus Callopistes. What does the name Callopistes mean? (Hint: It's from the Greek, not the Latin, and there's two answers I'll accept.)

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! And remember, you only get points if you submit an answer before the question closes!

Posted: **Sat Dec 07, 2024 5:45 pm**

Bonus ticket time, this one a little different. I had one really good idea, realized I wanted it to be bigger and better, so now it's a new game that's gonna happen later this month.

For now... there are 88 modern constellations defined by the International Astronomical Union. Four of them are based on real reptiles (five if you count Ophiuchus, which we are not because that's a man holding a snake. To get a bonus ticket, quote me with one of them (that hasn't been posted before!) and a picture or illustration of it. You can use a star chart, a picture of the sky, one of those cool old-timey charts that has the animal illustrated on it... you get the idea. (yes this said five earlier I counted Lacerta twice because I like it just that much)

So for example...

This one is Draco, the dragon.

Now, Draco wouldn't count, because dragons aren't real (i cry forever), but you get the idea, right?

Code: Select all

[imgwidth=500]ILLUSTRATION/PHOTO[/imgwidth]
This one is NAME HERE, the ANIMAL.
[quote="Scaramouche Fandango"][/quote]

Posted: **Sat Dec 07, 2024 5:57 pm**

This one is Lacerta, the lizard.

Posted: **Sat Dec 07, 2024 6:16 pm**

This one is Chamaeleon, the Chameleon.

Posted: **Sat Dec 07, 2024 6:22 pm**

This one is hydrus, the water snake.

Posted: **Sat Dec 07, 2024 7:10 pm**

That's one of them! Boy, I wish this was my zodiac symbol instead of Aries.

Posted: **Sat Dec 07, 2024 7:11 pm**

This is another1 Love how to make it more "classical" they just stuck an extra a in there...

Posted: **Sat Dec 07, 2024 7:11 pm**

You got it! I thought this would be the hard one because it's like Hydra which is mythical, but this one's based on a real snake!

Posted: **Sat Dec 07, 2024 7:21 pm**

This one is Serpens, the…serpent.

Posted: **Sat Dec 07, 2024 7:30 pm**

hiss hiss that's correct!

Posted: **Sat Dec 07, 2024 7:38 pm**

OH WHOOPS I'M AN IDIOT
I had Lacerta on my list twice because I like lizards that dang much I guess! There are only four based on real reptiles! Sorry about that!

HOWEVER for one more bonus ticket...

Who is this guy I saw in Florence a couple of years ago? (The man, not the iguana.)

Code: Select all

[quote="Scaramouche Fandango"][/quote]
I know that guy! He is NAME HERE.

Posted: **Sat Dec 07, 2024 7:42 pm**

I know that guy! He is AMERIGO VESPUCCI

Posted: **Sat Dec 07, 2024 7:53 pm**

He sure is!

Fun fact I doubled back to take a picture of him and our guide at the Ufizzi was all "yeah! of course she wants to take a picture of the guy America is named after, she noticed him!" and my parents had to explain that no, I just like lizards. And then when we went inside, we did a highlights tour with him, and then he took us around to stuff we specifically wanted to see and stuff he thought we would like. I was the only person in our party with a request, so after Judith Beheading Holofernes, he took us around to see every painting in the entire museum with a lizard or a dragon in it. It was very sweet.

This was my favorite of the St. Georges we saw- it was actually in the Pitti Palace, which he also took us to, and I liked it the best because the dragon really reminded me of a caiman lizard!

Posted: **Sat Dec 07, 2024 10:04 pm**

5.
6. There are two gorgeous little species of dwarf tegu in the genus Callopistes. What does the name Callopistes mean? (Hint: It's from the Greek, not the Latin, and there's two answers I'll accept.)

Callopistes comes from either the Greek word callopistes (καλλωπίζειν), adorn oneself, make oneself fine or smart, or it’s a compound word from the Greek word kallos (=beauty) and pistos (=genuine).

Genuine Beauty would be a great name for a kin or pet, just saying...
Anyways, here's the other species in that genus! This one's Callopistes flavipunctatus, the Peruvian and Ecuadorian species. The other one was Callopistes maculatus, and it's found in Chile.

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

Lizard Trivia: Answer 5

Lizard Trivia: Question 6

Bonus Ticket Opportunity!

Strange Creature's Tribute to Tegus - Feeding Time Dice Game and Trivia Open!

Strange Creature's Tribute to Tegus - Feeding Time Dice Game and Trivia Open!

Strange Creature's Tribute to Tegus - Feeding Time Dice Game and Trivia Open!

Strange Creature's Tribute to Tegus - Feeding Time Dice Game and Trivia Open!

Strange Creature's Tribute to Tegus - Feeding Time Dice Game and Trivia Open!

Strange Creature's Tribute to Tegus - Feeding Time Dice Game and Trivia Open!

Strange Creature's Tribute to Tegus - Feeding Time Dice Game and Trivia Open!

Strange Creature's Tribute to Tegus - Feeding Time Dice Game and Trivia Open!

Strange Creature's Tribute to Tegus - Feeding Time Dice Game and Trivia Open!

Strange Creature's Tribute to Tegus - Feeding Time Dice Game and Trivia Open!

Strange Creature's Tribute to Tegus - Feeding Time Dice Game and Trivia Open!

Lizard Trivia: Answer 6