Fun Trivia » Animals » Miscellaneous Animal Trivia » Animal Groups

There are over forty species of lobster, all with a hard exoskeleton and ten legs which they use to walk on. There are differences between species though. Some lobsters have huge (and delicious) front claws and some don't. Some species have front claws of unequal size and power. You can find a lobster in every ocean of the world, usually living a single life in rocky areas on the continental shelf.

One species of spiny lobster, the Panulirus versicolor, makes its home in the warmer areas of the Pacific and Indian Oceans and the Red Sea. While the Panulirus versicolor is still considered a juvenile, it moves with up to 100,000 friends to a deeper part of the ocean where it will make its permanent home. These lobsters form a line and migrate miles away from where they were born to a new abode. In the procession, the antennae of one lobster keeps in contact with the tail of the lobster in front. One hundred thousand lobsters would certainly be called a risk! Difficulty: Hard.

 

Scrabble, Monopoly, Ludo

Geese come in a 'wedge' or 'gaggle'.
Partridges can be a 'covey' or a 'bevy'.
Gulls flock in a 'colony'. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Geese, Partridges, Gulls

The Latin word for the Northern lapwing is 'Vanellus vanellus'. There are about 24 species of the lapwing, including the crowned lapwing and the masked lapwing. Difficulty: Hard.

 

A fake, A lie, An untruth

Pitying-feeling sympathy for someone or something. This fits quite nicely for a dove, doesn't it? Difficulty: Hard.

 

Woe, Mourning, Crying

Folklore equates owls with wisdom, so one wonders why a group of owls would be called a parliament. Parliaments, after all, are made up of politicians, and they're not any wiser than the rest of us, in my not so humble opinion. Difficulty: Hard.

 

A Congregation, An Assembly, A Court

Gators depend on the environment to regulate their body temperature. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Coalition, Herd, Gather

Other names for a group of flies are: hatch, grist, swarm, and cloud. Difficulty: Hard.

 

swan, elk, trout

The highest legislative authority in the United Kingdom is Parliament. A parliament is also the collective term for a group of owls. A group of asses is called a pace. A group of sharks is called a shiver. A group of foxes is called a skulk or a leash. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Asses, Sharks, Foxes

Rather appropriate don't you think. But don't get complacent, hippopotamuses have caused more deaths in Africa than lions, crocodiles or elephants. Difficulty: Hard.

 

murder, labour, group

A charm is a group of finches. A rag is a group of colts. A Brood is a group of chickens. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Charm, Rag, Brood

A group of clams is known as a bed. Clams are bivalve mollusks that are found in both freshwater and saltwater environments. They are filter feeders, meaning they obtain their food by filtering water through their gills to trap plankton and other small organisms. Clams are an important food source for many animals, including humans. They are also used in various industries, such as jewelry making and as a source of calcium for poultry feed. Interestingly, some species of clams can live for over 500 years! Difficulty: Easy.

 

Brood, Team, Brace

Zebras are members of the Equine family very recognisable by their black and white striped coats. Their coats are black with white stripes rather than vice versa. The way to remember that is to picture a zebra with its black nose. The nose is the main colour of their coat, hence they are black with white stripes (rather like humans having highlights in their hair.)

Like horses, they are social creatures gathering in zeals across their African territory, but unlike horses, they've never really been domesticated despite attempts by circuses and other performing acts. There are three species of zebra: Grevy's zebra, the mountain zebra and the plains zebra. The latter is the most common zebra seen on the plains of Africa. Grevy's and the mountain zebra are both endangered.

So why are zebras striped? There are numerous theories on this matter. Camouflage is the obvious answer but newer theories suggest that the stripes attract fewer bites from flies such as the tse-tse and other flies. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Smack, Keen, Clan

A 'flight' is of goshawks.
A 'wisp' is a group of snipe.
A 'brace' is of grouse or pheasants. Difficulty: Hard.

 

A Flight, A Wisp, A Brace

Ferrets under one year old are known as kits. They are a domesticated animal and for hundreds of years were used for hunting. Ferrets make excellent family pets.

When Prince Charles and Lady Diana were married in 1981, ferrets were used to run the sound and TV cables in to awkward places. Difficulty: Hard.

 

A worrying, A company, A gathering

Ubiquity-something that seems to be everywhere. This definitely fits for a sparrow, one of the most common birds in the world. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Common, Everywhere, All

The use of "an exaltation of larks" dates back to 1430. Anything that is exalted is high indeed, and larks fly very high. Shelley's famous ode ("Hail to thee, blithe spirit; bird thou never wert...") refers to the high flight of larks and the purity of their sweet song. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Pride, Choir, Symphony

Wolves are also in packs, which makes sense as they are also canines. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Dogs: cry, mute; Hounds: kennel, litter, Dogs: litter, cry; Hounds: kennel, mute, Dogs: kennel, mute; Hounds: litter, cry

Barracudas are nicknamed "The Tigers of the Sea" because of their very sharp teeth! Difficulty: Hard.

 

School, Energy, Sting

A smack, or also sometimes a fluther. Difficulty: Hard.

 

flounder, eel, loon

A leap year occurs every four years. A group of leopards is called a leap. A group of frogs is called an army. A group of toads is called a knot. A group of hyenas is called a cackle or a clan. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Frogs, Toads, Hyenas

Tigers, the world's largest natural cats (the liger, male lion/female tiger is larger) , are good swimmers and enjoy cooling off in water. There are five species of tiger left; Siberian, South China, Indochinese, Bengal and Sumatran. Difficulty: Hard.

 

kangaroo, swift, ferret

Other collective nouns: 'Cast' and 'fesnying' (?) Difficulty: Hard.

 

ants, bees, coyotes

A lamentation is a group of swans. A swarm is a group of flies. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Swarm, Plague, Lamentation

Gorillas are social animals that live in groups called bands. A typical band consists of one dominant male, several females, and their offspring. The dominant male is responsible for protecting the group and leading them to food sources. Interestingly, gorilla bands are known to have their own unique behaviors and communication styles, which can vary depending on the region they inhabit. For example, some bands in the wild have been observed using specific hand gestures to communicate with each other. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Drove, Tribe, Horde

A 'lodge' is a family of beavers.
A 'company' is the name for a group of moles.
A 'band' is a pack of coyotes. Difficulty: Hard.

 

A Lodge, A Company, A Band

Shimmer-to quiver with light. When a hummingbird flies, it can flap its wings over 50 times a second! You can imagine the light "shimmering" on those super fast wings! Difficulty: Hard.

 

Shine, Glimmer, Glitter

Some group names, such as flock or herd, can be applied to multiple animals. Nurseries and gazes, however, are only used for groups of raccoons Difficulty: Hard.

 

Opossums, Moles, Chipmunks

Cheetahs are shy and are not very sociable with each other. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Pack, Pride, Colony

You can also call it a nest or a herd, but wouldn't you rather call it a pledge? Difficulty: Hard.

 

ferret, badger, mosquito

All of the above were notorious members of the "Mob." A group of kangaroos is a mob as well. A group of badgers is a cete. A group of leopards is a leap. A group of porcupines is a prickle.
Difficulty: Hard.

 

Badgers, Leopards, Porcupines

There are 13 species of otter from the river loving North American otter to the sea otter. Difficulty: Hard.

 

A team, A scurry, A shrewdness

A bit nicer than 'a murder of crows'. Rooks and ravens also come in storytellings. Difficulty: Hard.

 

starlings, butterflies, ducks

A drove is a group of oxen. A troupe is a group of baboons. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Flock, Troupe, Buck

Crows are known for their intelligence and social behavior, often gathering in large groups to roost or forage for food. A group of crows is called a murder, which may seem ominous but actually has a practical origin. The term likely comes from the Old English word "murthor," meaning a secret meeting or council. This may have been used to describe the behavior of crows, who often gather in large groups to discuss important matters such as finding food or avoiding predators. Interestingly, crows are also known for their ability to recognize individual human faces and hold grudges against those who have wronged them in the past. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Manipulation, Clutch, Chain

 

hawks, kittens, kangaroos

Elks are known as a 'gang'.
Elephant families are know as a 'parade'.
Donkey herds are known as a 'drove'. Difficulty: Very Easy.

 

Elks, Elephants, Donkeys

Scourge-to cause suffering. Yes, mosquitoes cause a LOT of suffering. Especially now that many mosquitoes are infected with West Nile, they have become more dangerous than ever. Difficulty: Average.

 

Suffering, Uncomfortable, Itch

A gaggle of geese is the term for the white barnyard fowls, not their wide-ranging wild cousins. I don't know if you've had much to do with gaggles of geese, but avoid them if you can. I speak from bitter experience, having been chased more than once by the vicious members of the gaggle on my uncle's farm, all flapping their wings and hissing at me. Did you know that a blow from a goose wing can break a child's arm? That's what happened to my young cousin.

According to Livy, the gaggle of geese that lived within the precinct of the temple of Juno on the Capitoline Hill in Rome once saved the city by raising the alarm when Gauls tried to sack it back in 360 BC. At Ballantine's whisky distillery on the shores of the Firth of Clyde, the warehouses in which the vats of maturing spirit are stored are guarded by gaggles of Chinese geese, which raise quite a ruckus when anyone comes near their patch. Difficulty: Hard.

A bobolink is a small bird. The male is black and white with a yellow cap on its head and the female is golden brown with brown markings. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Connection, Bind, Band

Specifically, house cats. If they were wild, they would be a 'destruction', and if they were just plain cats, they could be a 'pounce' or a 'glaring'. Difficulty: Hard.

 

flies, rats, peacocks