Long Lost Cousin

About Long Lost Cousin

Long Lost Cousin is one of the small daily games on Logicers. Each numbered day shows a living thing at the top, drawn as a silhouette, and three more below it. You tap the one you think is its closest relative, and the game draws the family tree that links all four, so you see where the shared ancestors sit.

The puzzle turns on a point the game spells out in its rules: two living things are close relatives when the ancestor they share lived not so long ago, and looks can fool you, because animals that live the same way often end up looking alike. A day's choice such as T. rex against a Komodo dragon, a chicken and a crocodile is built around that trap. The game only asks about the three it shows, so the closest relative of all may be none of them.

Every answer is checked against two sources, linked under it, and only relationships scientists agree on are used. The silhouettes come from the PhyloPic library, with credit where artists ask for it. There is no login, tracking or cookies; your streak and an album of stamps for days played are kept in your browser, and a practice mode replays yesterday's puzzle.

How to play Long Lost Cousin

1. Look at the animal or plant at the top of the screen.
2. Tap the one of the three below that you think is its closest relative.
3. Tap See the family tree to watch how all four are related.
4. Check the sources under the answer, collect your stamp and share your result if you like.

Tips

• Do not go by looks: animals that live the same way often look alike without being close kin.
• Think about when lineages split, not about which animal seems most similar today.
• Read the family tree after each day: the same groups come back, and each tree teaches the next answer.
• Use Practice to try yesterday's puzzle if you missed it; it does not affect your streak.

Questions