The warm and fuzzy quiz! How many species of mammals are on U.S. coins?

Not to worry, the mere mention of a Morgan excites many...(myself included)!

 

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Commemorative: Albany NY Charter Anniversary,

obverse - Beaver


Edit: just realized Beefer518 beat me to it!

 

Yup. At least three left to go.

Cal

 

OK, 2013 $1 Delaware Treaty of 1778: Turkey & Wolf (also has Turtle, but that doesn't count)

 

Yup on wolf. Neither turkey or turtle counts.

Cal

 

African lion on the Lions Club silver dollar.

Bighorn sheep on the Denali quarter.

Elk on the Olympic Washington quarter.

 

Great job. You had two that I missed (lion and elk). Actually, it's a Dall sheep on the Denali quarter, but close enough.

There's still at least one more; it's also a ruminant that lives at high altitude.

Cal

 

I'm guessing it's on a modern commem? IE - coins I know nothing about.... LOL

 

Ram or goat.

 

Goat is close. A little more specific and name the coin.

Cal

 

Also known as an Indian Head Nickel too.

 

It is also a Seahorse.

 

Here are the answers so far ... 16 species of mammals. If anyone knows of another, please post it. Great job!

Cal

badger
beaver
bison
catamount (panther, mountain lion, cougar)
Dall sheep
dolphin
elk
grizzly bear
horse
human
lion
moose
mtn. goat
whale
ox
wolf

 

Change Narwhale to just Whale, the creature on the Hudson Half Dollar is not a Narwhale. No spiral tusk emerging from the forehead.

 

OK. Done. Thanks. Cal

 

I'm still thinking "dairy cow" on the Wisconsin quarter is as different from "ox" as either one is from "bison".

 

Nope, they're both Bos taurus.

Cal

 

And now I know that bison and domestic cattle are different at the genus level, even though interbreeding them produces fertile offspring. Biologists are goofy.

 

Yeah. Speciation has been changing for the last 2-3 decades. For centuries, it relied mostly on anatomy. Now DNA is considered as well. For two differently appearing groups of animals to be considered the same species, they had to be able to interbreed and produce fertile offspring. However, the ability to do so has not necessarily been considered proof that they are the same species. Even with DNA, how similar does it have to be to prove same species?

With reproductive technology and genetic engineering it's been possible to confuse things even more. For example, it's possible to mix cells from embryonic sheep and goats to produce an animal that is a mixture of the two species. They're called chimeras after the Greek mythological beast which appeared on coins of Sikyon 1700 years ago. See pic below. They're not hybrids though; any cell in the animal is either goat or sheep but not a combo. That includes the gonads, so they breed as either a goat or a sheep but not a mix.

Cal



Chimera on silver stater of Sikyon, 300-304 BC.

 

Oh no I don't see my flying squirrel listed
Is a squirrel a mammal?
There are over 200 squirrel species living all over the world and they are all mammals. Squirrels, like all other mammals, have hair and mammary glands and give birth to live young. Squirrels can be found on every continent except for Australia and are a part of the rodent family.