Fun Trivia » Animals » Animals by Region » Africa

Rudyard Kipling wasn't wrong about leopards having spotted coats, as they do have spots on some parts of their bodies, mainly their heads, bellies and limbs. However, leopard coats also have a type of marking called a rosette, a cluster of black spots grouped around a darker patch of fur that vaguely resembles a rose. Jaguars also have them, as do lion cubs, snow leopards, king cheetahs and lion/tiger hybrids such as the ligon.

In 'How the Leopard Got His Spots', the leopard originally has a coat that Kipling describes as 'greyish-yellowish'. He and his human friend, an Ethiopian man, both camouflage themselves so that they can better hunt the local wildlife; the Ethiopian turns his skin black, and gives the leopard spots by touching his fur. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Dots, Patches, Suns

Not described as a pretty bird, the marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumeniferus) is a scavenger, often eating with vultures. It is a very large bird that stands up to 5 feet tall with its long legs and can weigh nearly 20 lbs. Its wingspan is around 12 feet in width. The bird's head is naked of feathers and reddish spotted with a bare, pink neck. It does have a large pink sac at its throat for mating calls and when it feels threatened. There is a white ruff just around the neck. The head and neck without feathers make it easier to stay clean after poking its head in carcasses. The stork's back is black, and its underwing and body are white. They do not only eat from carcasses, they will go to fires and swoop in to grab fleeing animals. The marabou stork lives near humans and dumping sites. It builds large tree nests for its lifelong partnership and breeds in colonies. They typically have 2-3 eggs per clutch and both sexes take incubation duty that lasts approximately 30 days. You can find this "undertaker bird" south of the Sahara. The undertail down of the stork formerly was harvested for feather boas, hence the term "marabou scarf."

Jaknginger of PR's Red Crew scavenged the web for information on this stork. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Ostrich, Goliath heron, Turaco

The web-footed tenrec (Microgale mergulus) is a mammal of about 25 to 40 cm, with bristly fur (especially when wet). Different photos indicate that the fur is dark-grey to black on the back, with a lighter (sometimes bright yellow) belly. The webbed hind feet allow it to hunt in the rivers or streams of the eastern part of Madagascar, where it hunts at night on aquatic insects and their larvae (such as dragonflies), crayfish and small fish or small frogs. The front feet display sharp claws to assist in the hunting and killing of prey. When swimming, the long tail is used as a rudder. Web-footed tenrecs locate their prey by using their long whiskers: they detect even the smallest vibrations a possible prey causes in the water. Their senses of sight and hearing are less developed.

Because the web-footed tenrec has a quite small habitat, the species is classified as "vulnerable". The main threat is water pollution.
Difficulty: Easy.

 

High branches of treetops, Desert plains, Deep sea

Sahara means desert, or Greatest Desert, so there is no need to call it the Sahara desert, as that means desert desert. Sahara camels (Arabian camels) are one-hump dromedaries native to Northern Africa and the Middle East. Although nearly all camels are now domesticated and human-fed, wild camels must search vast areas for bits of twig, leaves, plant stems or tumbleweed. Because of their tough, thick lips, and a hard palate inside the mouth, these herbivores can eat the "saltbush" and even thorny plants, including spiky cacti, that other animals cannot. The camel's upper lip is split, so that each half can move independently, grabbing at short grass like fingers. They can also sit comfortably on hot sand owing to their thick skin. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Superior eyesight, A flattened nose, Pointed teeth

Firefinches are endemic to most regions of sub-Saharan Africa and are generally small birds with a mix of bright red, brown and black plumage. The red-billed firefinch is one of the most common species and despite also being known as the Senegal firefinch, it can be found across western, eastern and southern Africa. There are 11 species of firefinch in total, the others not mentioned in the question being the African, bar-breasted, black-bellied, brown, Jameson's and Landana. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Munias, Crimsonwings, Seedcrackers

The most abundant of the rhinoceros, the southern white rhinoceros makes it home in the KwaZulu-Natal parks of South Africa. They have two horns and very little body hair. This animal breeds readily in zoos as well as in the wild. The other three animals are found in Egypt. Difficulty: Average.

 

Pallid gerbil, Aoudad, Dorcas gazelle

The oryx favors the dry plains of Namibia. These large gazelles are hunted by lions, hyenas and African wild dogs. They are not hunted by cheetahs or leopards because of their size. These herbivorous mammals are decreasing in number due to habitat loss and hunting. Their long horns are sought by local tribesman as charms. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Desert, Jungle, Wetlands

The aardwolf has a hyena-like appearance, but is much smaller than a hyena. It has dark vertical stripes and long pointed ears.
Difficulty: Hard.

 

Carrion, Small mammals and birds, Antelope

The name 'leopard' came from the mistaken belief that they were a hybrid between a lion and a panther. A recessive gene causes melanism in some leopards, which people call panthers, but they are really just black leopards. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Lion, Cheetah, Ocelot

In the language of the Masai people, Serengeti means 'endless plain'. The Serengeti stretches for endless miles across the East African landscape. A world where over two million animals play out a daily drama of life and death. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Wild Animals, God's creature, Spaghetti

The Lappet faced vulture (Torgos tracheliotos) is distributed throughout Africa, though numbers are declining, it prefers areas of dry savannah, but can be seen in more human inhabited areas if tempted by a roadkill snack. It is a very large bird with a wingspan of 2.5 to 2.9 m ( 8.2 to 9.5 ft), clad mainly in black feathers apart from the contrasting white feathers on the legs; its head is bald but brightly coloured, red or pink are common, with fleshy folds of skin giving rise to its name. A 'lappet' is a hanging piece of flesh or fold on an animal or bird. The bald head is an advantage in a bird that will be in contact with carrion. Any blood or other bodily fluids are easily cleaned. They are scavengers and due to their size can chase away smaller species if necessary. Elephant carcasses are particularly popular, as there is more meat to consume at a single sitting. Due to declining habitat destruction their IUCN status is described as endangered.

Red Crew's smpdit hopes that breeding populations with increase for this species. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Bald head, Black feathers on its head, Feathered neck forming a "beard"

The order of the Sirenia includes three species of manatees and the dugong. Manatees live in the western part of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean (the West Indian manatee), on the west coast of Africa (African manatee) or in the Amazon basin (Amazonian manatee), while the dugong lives in the coastal areas of the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, and the Pacific Ocean. Madagascar is only one of the almost 40 countries where dugongs can be found.

Dugongs have quite large, almost cylindrical-shaped, bodies, typically 3m long and weighing about 420 kg. Females are usually slightly larger than males. The front paws have evolved to short flippers, while they lack hind flippers. Their tail is a large horizontal fluke.

They feed on seagrass in the coastal areas of their habitat, which they typically graze on a depth of 10m. There is evidence that dugongs can dive to 37m to get to more protected beds of sea grass. Occasionally they also ingest algae or even small shellfish.

Contrary to the belief that all manatees need to dwell at least part of their lives in freshwater, the dugongs live at sea and rarely come to feed in the brackish estuaries.

Although the dugong has very few natural enemies and thus can reach a quite long lifespan, the status of the dugong is vulnerable. Their rate of procreation is rather low, and the pollution of their coastal habitat poses a risk.
Difficulty: Easy.

 

Large game, Eucalyptus, Bird eggs

The pale and deceptively fragile-looking deathstalker scorpion (Leiurus quinquestriatus) is of the class Arachnida--that of spiders, ticks, mites and some crabs. The most poisonous scorpion on earth, a deathstalker injects neurotoxins that cause excruciating pain in humans, though a healthy adult often survives. Those who die succumb to respiratory failure.

Hunting in the dark to conceal and ambush, these bad-tempered scorpions like live food such as earthworms, centipedes, crickets, ants, beetles and each other. They often grab and crush parts of prey with pincers. They have pairs of eyes on the sides of the head as well as on top. Despite this they don't see well, using touch organs near the legs to sense prey.

Increasingly people keep them as pets, though in many places that is illegal. I saw an advertisement selling a deathstalker for $70.00, but you must first sign a waiver saying you realize it's "potentially lethal". In the USA and other countries the antidote is not approved for the public, and therefore is not available. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Mammalia, Reptilia, Aves

The suni is a type of small antelope. Only the males have horns and both sexes have dark ringed eyes. They rarely drink, getting all their water from their herbivorous diet. This is one of South Africa's animals that are not threatened. Difficulty: Average.

 

Tortoise, Wild cat, Large rodent

Warthogs live in family groups that are made of related females and their children. A herd of ten or more warthogs is called a sounder. These omnivores are found all over Namibia providing local carnivores with food. They also tear up the ground with their digging enabling it to soak up rainwater. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Ram, Clamshower, Woof

Aardvark means "earth pig" in Afrikaans. It has a distinctive shape, having a long narrow snout and short legs, with strong claws. They use these claws to dig into anthills and termite mounds, and then use their long tongues to penetrate further. Their very sticky saliva enables them to capture insects on their tongues, before pulling them back to eat their meal. Difficulty: Very Easy.

 

Grass, Antelope, Small mammals (rats and mice)

Bushbabies have large forward facing eyes, and large thin ears. They make a unnerving, loud, shrill cry which sounds very much like a human baby. The two types found in South Africa are the thick-tailed bushbaby and the Southern lesser bushbaby.
Difficulty: Hard.

 

The western Cape coast, The semi-desert areas, The Drakensburg mountains

Bushbucks are small antelope, commonly standing only two to three feet tall at the shoulder. They are great jumpers, able to jump on average at least twice their height, and they enjoy swimming. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Madagascar, Northern Africa, only in the Sahara desert

It is called lilytrotter because of its ability to walk over waterlilies and other aquatic plants using its very long toes. It is also called "Jesus bird" because it appears as if it is walking on the surface of the water. The strange thing about this extraordinary bird is that the female mates with up to four different males and then the males incubate the egss when they are hatched. The best place to see an African jacana is in the Okavango region of Botswana. Difficulty: Hard.

 

froghopper, thunderflyer, wormdigger

Warthogs enter their burrows backwards so that they can use their tusks to defend themselves when attacked or to run out quickly and flee. Usually warthogs live in disused aardvark burrows or burrows dug beneath termite mounds. Difficulty: Easy.

 

sideways, by jumping in them, by digging a new entrance each time

Giraffes are the tallest living mammal. They are able to go for over a month without drinking water if necessary, as an adaptation to the drought-prone areas where they live. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Thompson's Gazelle, Antelope, Zebra

Elephant skin lacks sweat glands, therefore body heat is released by other means. Elephants stay cool by flapping their ears. Blood entering the heavily veined ear is cooled by breezes caused by flapping and return to the body 9 degrees cooler.When elephants arrive at a water hole they will often wet their ears before they drink. Difficulty: Easy.

 

By sweating, By opening its mouth, By drinking a cold one

The lovely, grey crowned crane is Uganda's national bird and is also depicted on the Ugandan flag. The specific subspecies found in Uganda is the East African Balearica regulorum gibbericeps (crested crane). This bird's habitat starts in the Democratic Republic of Congo and covers east to Uganda and Kenya and on to eastern South Africa. The other subspecies is the B. r. regulorum (South African crowned crane) which is found on the western coast of Africa at Angola and south to South Africa. Our question's focus is the grey crowned crane. It is an omnivore. Though the breeding is typically in the drier seasons, they can be found near marshes, rivers, and lakes. The breeding involves a mating dance, which is a full strut. Both sexes incubate the 2-5 eggs, which take about 30 days to hatch. They are not always migratory and stay in flocks of up to 150 birds. The bird has long legs for wading and stands around 3 feet. This particular crane has a long back-toe good for grabbing branches and nesting in trees. It weighs under 10 lbs. It is covered with grey feathers on the body and predominantly white wings except for a black area on the top. Other colors such as maroon and darker grey can be seen on the tail portion and underwing. Those colors are readily seen during the mating dance. The wingspan is around 6.5 feet. The head of the grey crowned crane is striking with a stiff, golden crown of feathers on the top of a black head and a short, black beak. The face has white sides with a red patch above each eye and a red throat pouch. The pouch inflates and gives the crane a distinguishable call.
Habitat loss and poaching of the cranes and their eggs have placed this bird on the endangered list. It is a protected species in Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

Jaknginger was so intrigued by the mention of the dance she had to google. Worth a watch! Difficulty: Very Easy.

 

Turaco, Green-breasted pitta, Black bee-eater

The aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) was quite difficult to classify. It finally ended up in the order of the primates and the superfamily of the lemurs. The aye-aye is about 90cm long, including the tail (which is longer than the actual body). The most striking part of its appearance is not the very long tail of the aye-aye, but its very long fingers. The front paws typically have a thin third finger and an extremely long fourth finger (even longer than the third finger). Aye-ayes are omnivores feeding on fruit, fungi and insect larvae, and they prefer insect grubs that live under the bark of a tree.

The aye-aye has a habit of tapping wood with its third finger to locate worms and grubs living under the bark. As soon as the aye-aye has located some grubs, it gnaws through the bark using its long incisor teeth, and then grabs the grubs with its fourth finger. Aye-ayes spend most of their time in the trees, and come down to the ground only rarely.

In my opinion the appearance of an aye-aye has influenced the artwork on the movie character "E.T".

The other options are also primates, but do not have any tail, nor do they live in Madagascar. Pottos live in the western part of mainland Africa, the red slender loris can only be found in the wild on Sri Lanka, and the orangutan is native to Indonesia (more specifically the islands of Borneo and Sumatra).
Difficulty: Easy.

 

Potto, Red slender loris, Orangutan

Porcupines are large rodents with a coat of sharp spines or quills. Their name comes from the concatenation of the Latin for pig and spine (porcus + spina). The spines are actually modified hair coated with keratin (as are fingernails). They are used as defence against predators. The initial prick may be enough to deter the predator, but then the backward-facing barbs on the quills act like anchors and make it more painful to remove a quill that has struck into the skin. It is not true that they can "fire" their quills but can drop them on contact and more will grow back.
Although porcupines exist in both Africa and America and look similar, the two groups are not closely related. They are not related to similar prickly animals such as the hedgehog or echidna.
The aardvark, armadillo and pangolin are also nocturnal insect eaters, but have no spines. Difficulty: Very Easy.

 

Aardvark, Armadillo, Pangolin

The civet looks like a bandit, with a white muzzle, light grey forehead, and a black horizontal band between the forehead and muzzle, covering the eye area. They are about the size of a medium-sized dog, and are related to mongooses and genets. They are solitary animals or found in pairs, and can be found in Africa and Asia.
Difficulty: Hard.

 

Civets are members of the cat family, Civets are similar in size to a mongoose, Civets live in Australia

The black mamba is the longest venomous snake in Africa and can reach up to 3.5 metres in length. It a much feared snake, mostly because of its exceptional speed. It is not black, as the name suggests, but has a grey-brownish colour. Another remarkable ability of this snake is that it can rear up the front third of its body almost to shoulder height. The venom is neurotoxic and causes death through paralysis unless treated immediately. Difficulty: Hard.

 

black, white, dark green

A male lion will sometimes kill the cubs so that the females will come back into oestrus and mate with him. He never lets anyone eat before him, although he does help the pride to bring down a larger prey but that doesn't have anything to do with establishing authority. Lions first topple their prey and then close their jaws over the muzzle or the windpipe. As a consequence the animal chokes to death. This does not happen however when it comes to smaller prey like baboons. However, lions are often killed or badly injured when hunting animals like buffaloes and giraffes. Difficulty: Easy.

 

he kills the lionesses, he lets the other members of the pride eat first, he hunts together with the pride

Tarzan's chimp was named 'Cheetah'! There are more than 200 living species of primates. Chimpanzees weigh about 5 pounds at birth and can live to around 40 years of age. Difficulty: Average.

 

Giraffe, Rhino, Baboon

The giant eland is native to Central and Western African countries such as Senegal, Chad and Guinea, while the common eland is native to East and Southern African countries such as Ethiopia, Eswatini and, of course, South Africa. Both eland varieties are among the world's largest antelope species. The common eland's coat is tan in colour, with the male being darker than the female, and its markings vary depending on its habitat; common elands in the northern part of their range have stripes on their torsos and dark patches on their legs. Some males in the Karoo semi-desert region may have white stripes.

Elands communicate by barking, and and a clicking sound can also be heard when eland herds are on the move. This is thought to be caused by their hooves splaying apart. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Pygmy eland, Spotted eland, Geoffroy's eland

Found throughout Africa and other parts of the world including the Middle East, South Asia, China, New Guinea and Australia, the sunbird's diet consists largely of nectar, but spiders, insects and fruit can also form a part. Due to convergent evolution sunbirds have various similarities to other groups of birds, namely hummingbirds of the Americas and honeyeaters of Oceania.
The males and females of the sunbirds have vastly different plumage, the males displaying bright plumage of iridescent hues, whilst the females are generally drab brown. They have long thin bills that curve downwards which have evolved to make nectar feeding efficient. If a flower is shaped in such a way to make it difficult to dip into to get the nectar, they use the beak to pierce the base. As nectar feeders they also play an important role in pollination for some well-known African plants such as proteas and bird of paradise.

Red crew's smpdit dresses conservatively allowing her husband free range to wear outlandish flamboyance if he so chooses. Difficulty: Average.

 

Seeds, Grasshoppers, Fish

There are two species of voalavo: the eastern voalavo (Voalavo antsahabensis) and the northern voalavo (Voalavo gymnocaudus). Both are rodents endemic to Madagascar and have a mousy appearance.

The eastern voalavo lives in the central highlands of Madagascar. It has a body length of about 9 cm and a tail length of about 10-11 cm. As its habitat is subject to the practice of slash-and-burn agriculture (even though it is a protected region), the eastern voalavo is listed as endangered.

More to the northern tip of Madagascar lives the northern voalavo. Its appearance is quite similar, although its tail might be slightly longer than the eastern voalavo's. The northern voalavo's tail is hairless, while the eastern voalavo's tail is furry. The northern voalavo is listed as least concern for extinction, because its habitat is quite efficiently protected.

Lagomorphs are hares and rabbits. They typically have very short tails.

Cingulates are the armoured mammals such as armadillos. Their habitat is limited to South-America. Bats have wings but almost no tails.
Difficulty: Easy.

 

Lagomorphs , Bats, Cingulates

Fabulous for insect control, fertilization and spreading seeds, dung beetles ("turd weevils") have special mouth parts designed to extract essential moisture and nutrients from animal droppings, affectionately called poop. These beetles are picky eaters, consuming only plant-eating animal excrement, preferably fresh. Able to navigate by the sun and stars, special dung beetles called "rollers" skillfully roll balls of dung up to 50 times their weight in a perfectly straight line, often coordinating as a team. Ancient Egyptians recognized their amazing ability to navigate, and honored them as sacred. Difficulty: Very Easy.

 

Eggs, Sand fleas, Cacti

The civet was for many years called a civet cat but is not a cat at all. The civet has markings similar to a raccoon - black and white markings on their fur and grey face, and a black band around their eyes. They are solitary and highly territorial animals, marking their boundaries with the scent released by their perineal glands. This scent musk has been used in the manufacturing of perfumes for centuries but is now mostly replaced by synthetic scents. Each animal can secrete up to 4g of musk every week.
The caracal and serval are African cats, both of which are generally nocturnal.
The ocelot is a South American small cat.
Difficulty: Hard.

 

Caracal, Serval, Ocelot

Dassies look like rodents, but their evolution lies in the same branch as elephants and dugongs. The other name for dassie is hyrax.
Difficulty: Hard.

 

Squirrel, Giraffe, Porcupine

The two categories are the bush duiker (genus: Sylvicapra) and the forest duiker (genus: Cephalophus). Interestingly, the bush duiker is represented by only one species, all the rest of the species are forest dwelling. Difficulty: Hard.

 

savanna duiker and rain-forest duiker, swampland duiker and forest duiker, desert duiker and rain-forest duiker

The horned adder is quite small and often conceals itself in the sand or under rocks to ambush its prey. Difficulty: Hard.

 

a horn of skin projects above the tip of the head, its backbone is lined with horns, a horn of skin projects under the head

African Grey Parrots are highly intelligent and as a domestic pet are the most prolific 'talkers'. All of the other birds mentioned are not African. Difficulty: Average.

 

Budgerigar, Mynah, Cockatiel

The oversized eyes, set to the sides of the head, provide full wide-angle vision for the antelopes. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Brown eyed, British eyed, Buck eyed

The name indicates the correct answer. The western sucker-footed bat (Myzopoda schliemanni) lives only in the (north)western part of Madagascar, while its closest relative, the Madagascan sucker-footed bat (Myzopoda aurita), lives on almost the entire east coast.

Sucker-footed bats differ from other species of bats by the presence of small cuplike knobs on their wrists and ankle. These serve to expel a sticky liquid, which they use to roost within the leaves of the traveller's tree, a Madagascan relative to the South-African strelitzia. Because of this peculiar way of roosting, sucker-footed bats are accustomed to sleep with their heads up, unlike the other bats who usually sleep upside-down.

The diet of the Madagascan sucker-footed bat is not well documented. The western sucker-footed bat thrives on a diet of butterflies and moths, with cockroaches for variation and, rarely, a wasp, bee or beetle. Both species of sucker-footed bat are listed as least concern.
Difficulty: Average.

 

East, South, Centre