The Great Carnivore Split
Move beyond 'cats vs. dogs' to discover the surprising connections between hyenas, walruses, and red pandas. Learn to identify the distinct traits that separate the two massive branches of the world's most famous predators.
Like Duolingo, but for The Great Carnivore Split. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
54 levels across 4 sections, about 108 minutes end to end, roughly 22 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Spotting the Family Differences, The Cat-Like Branch: Feliformia, The Dog-Like Branch: Caniformia, and Predators of the Sea and Deep History. It assumes you already know the basics.
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Key ideas in The Great Carnivore Split
- External traits evolve independently
- Skeletal structures change slowly
- Skeletal structures vs external traits
- Hyenas and mongooses are Feliforms
- Bears and seals are Caniforms
- Mapping families to suborders
- Cat-like predators have a dual-chambered auditory bulla
- The presence of a dividing wall is the key anatomical 'secret' for this group
- Raccoons, skunks, and pinnipeds (walruses) are all part of the dog-like lineage
- Civets and viverrids have the double-chambered ear bone of the cat-like branch
- Mapping specific families to their correct suborder based on ear structure
- The bulla is the specific skeletal feature used to divide these two groups
- The structure of this capsule is the primary evidence for predator evolution
- Retracted claws allow for a silent approach
- Hyenas and mongooses are part of the Feliformia branch
- Retracted claws prevent dulling on rocks and soil
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives The Great Carnivore Split the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
Why do taxonomists prefer studying the ear bulla over studying an animal's fur color?
Get it right to open this lesson and 53 more in the app.
How to learn The Great Carnivore Split, step by step
Go in order. 54 short levels across 4 sections, about 1 hour 48 minutes in all, five minutes a day.
- 1
Spotting the Family Differences
- The Ear Bone Secret: How We Group Predators
- Retractable Claws and Other Feliform Traits
- Non-Retractable Claws and Caniform Lifestyles
- Teeth for Tearing vs. Teeth for Grinding
- 2
The Cat-Like Branch: Feliformia
- The Big and Small Cats: Felidae
- Hyenas: The Bone-Crushers That Aren't Dogs
- Viverrids: Civets and Genets of the Old World
- Mongooses and Meerkats: The Social Hunters
- The Rare Ones: Madagascan Carnivores and Nandinias
- 3
The Dog-Like Branch: Caniformia
- Canids: Wolves, Foxes, and Jackals
- The Bear Family: From Giants to Sun Bears
- Mustelids: The Fierce World of Otters and Weasels
- Procyonids: Raccoons, Coatis, and Ringtails
- The Red Panda: A Branch of Its Own
- Skunks and Stink Badgers: The Scent Specialists
- 4
Predators of the Sea and Deep History
- Pinnipeds: When Caniforms Returned to Water
- Walruses vs. Seals: Telling the Families Apart
- Common Ancestors: Where the Split Began
4 sections · 18 units · 54 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
Questions about The Great Carnivore Split
How do I learn The Great Carnivore Split?
Go in order: start with Spotting the Family Differences, then The Cat-Like Branch: Feliformia, then The Dog-Like Branch: Caniformia, then Predators of the Sea and Deep History. On Tomo that's 54 short levels, about 1 hour 48 minutes in all, played five minutes a day. Start free and play the first level in under a minute.
Is there a Duolingo-style app for The Great Carnivore Split?
Yes. Tomo works like Duolingo: short daily lessons, streaks and quick quizzes. The Great Carnivore Split is one of its free courses, and you can type any other topic to get a course of your own.
Is The Great Carnivore Split free?
Yes. The Great Carnivore Split is playable on Tomo's free plan, which doesn't expire. No credit card, no waitlist. Download the app and start your first lesson.
How long does it take to learn The Great Carnivore Split?
54 levels across 4 sections, about 1 hour 48 minutes of play in total. It's built for five minutes a day, so you finish it a little at a time instead of all at once.
Do I need any background to start The Great Carnivore Split?
No. It's pitched at an intermediate level, so it starts where you are and builds up. If you can tap a phone, you can start.
Tomo is in ChatGPT
Tomo is also a ChatGPT plugin: the same playable courses, built and played inside your chat.
Add Tomo to ChatGPT- What to ask
- “Make me a Tomo course on black holes.” “Turn this chat into a Tomo course.”
- What you get
- Quick questions with instant feedback, hearts and stars, ready to play in about a minute.
- Where it goes
- No sign-up to start. Connect your Tomo account and your streak carries on in the app.
You pick the voice
The Great Carnivore Split is taught in the Professor style: clear, structured, thorough. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
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Start The Great Carnivore Split today.
Download Tomo, search The Great Carnivore Split, and play your first lesson in under a minute.