Special Sub-Topic: I Think I Smell A Rat Click Here To Play: I Think I Smell A Rat

You have just taken a new job as bouncer at the Animals' Club ("You're guaranteed to have a wild time!") and you're anxious to please. As you've come to find, the club has a lot of themed attractions, and your responsibility is to make sure that no animal sneaks in that doesn't belong. You report to work for your first day, and you're told that it's Mustelidae Monday! The following animals are lined up at the door--which one is trying to sneak in?

Rat. Yes--we had to lead off by smelling a rat. The mink, stoat, and sable are all members of the weasel (Mustelidae) family, while the rat is a rodent.

Once you sort out the Mustilidae group, your boss sidles over. "I need you at the other side of the club," he says. "It's Hominidae hour, and we have a couple primates arguing that they're 'close enough'." Which of the following primates do you need to kick out?

Lemur. Orangutans, gorillas, and chimpanzees, along with humans, are in the Hominidae family, and are considered great apes. A lemur is a prosimian primate (a primate that is simply not a monkey or an ape). Beyond being of the order primates, lemurs' specific taxonomic designation is disputed. Most commonly, lemurs are considered to be either Strepsirrhini or Lemuriformes, if that means anything to you.

After Hominidae hour ends with no more incidents, you decide to check out the Lepidoptera lounge. It's a good thing too, because there's a particularly nasty imposter causing trouble in there. Which of the following insects will you be showing to the door?

Tsetse. The tsetse is a nasty biting fly which can carry sleeping sickness. The other three insects are various butterflies (Lepidoptera).

Reporting to work on Tuesday, you are told that one room in the club will be reserved for a Passerine party. You spy a few birds that have come early and are beginning to queue up to get in. But you notice that you will have to ask one of the birds to leave--which one?

Wild turkey. The wild turkey is a galliform, which is an order of gamefowl. The other three birds are all perching birds or passerines, which are often (though perhaps not as accurately) termed songbirds.

It's a busy night! But you're going to have to clear the floor soon--on Tuesday nights, your club has Marsupial midnight hour. But one animal that is clearly not a marsupial (and who has had a few too many) causes a huge disturbance, and you have to wrestle him to the door. After that event is settled, your boss gives you the rest of the evening off--and tells you to check a scrape you have for poison before you go to bed. Who did you have to throw out?

Platypus. The platypus is a monotreme, one of the two existing egg-laying mammals (along with the echidna). Platypuses do have ankle spurs, and the male carries a nasty venom in the spurs. The other three selections are marsupial families. Each of the animals listed are principally found in Oceania.

Wednesday night is the big bug bash! You are assigned to cover the Arachnid area--which of the following animals would you not permit to come in?

Praying mantis. The mantis is an insect, while spiders, scorpions, and ticks are all arachnids (8-legged creatures).

You have to come in early on Thursday to help set up--the city is having its annual Rodent Run, and your club is trying to bill itself as the official watering hole. One entrant in the race is unfairly entered--you make a mental note that you'll have to turn him away if they let him run (though that sure would seem unfair). Which of the following animals would this be?

Hare/Jackrabbit. Squirrels, beavers, porcupines, along with several other animals (around 40% of all mammals) are rodents. A hare, or a jackrabbit, is of the order lepus, which are characterized more for their style and speed of movement (as opposed to rodents, which are primarily characterized by gnawing behavior).

After the rodents are all settled, you are bumped over to the Viper VIP lounge (which is always full on rodent run days). The Elapidae family has reserved the lounge for this special occasion. It's very important that just the right snakes are let in here, but fortunately you know right away which snake is trying to sneak in. Which one is it?

Anaconda. The death adder, cobras, and mambas are all poisonous snakes. They are of the family Elapidae. Anacondas are nonvenomous constricting snakes; they have their own genus, Eunectes.

You stay late on Thursday night to check on the Billfish bowl, and make sure that nobody gets unruly--there are some pretty tough customers in there. Everything seems fine, even though you do notice one member of the bowl who's not a billfish. "It's alright," says the bartender, "he's a regular." Satisfied that everything's okay, you go to check out. But who did you notice?

Tuna. Swordfish, marlin, and sailfish fit together in the categorization 'billfish.' These fish have long pointed 'noses' and are quite large. They comprise the two families Xiphiidae and Istiophoridae. Tuna are one of our most important commercial and food fish; they are of the family Scombridae.

Friday is your day off, but on Saturday you have to round off your week by working all night in the Lizard Lounge. Which one of the animals below would not be one of the regulars that you see there?

Diamondback terrapin. Yes, of the four reptiles listed, the terrapin is a turtle, and not a lizard like the other three. Hope you enjoyed doing some animal bouncing! Thanks for playing!