Fun Trivia » Animals » Miscellaneous Animal Trivia » Specific Topic Animal Trivia

Interestingly, the twenty million bats that make Bracken Cave their home are Mexican free-tailed bats, so one might be misled to believe the answer is Mexico. The truth is that Bracken Cave can be found in Texas, south of San Antonio, and the bats usually there only during the months falling between March and October; during the winter they migrate back down to Mexico proper.

If you guessed the answer to be Thailand, you aren't too far off the mark; there are a number of temples and towns in the country (some not too far out of the Bangkok city limits) that worship bats. The temples themselves often contain thousands of bats who come and go at sunset and sunrise. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Thailand, Romania, Mexico

The ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) ranges from Central America to nothern Canada, and it is the only breeding hummingbird of eastern North America. Its extremly short legs prevent walking or hopping. The hummingbird's rigid wings from shoulder to wingtip allow for power in both the upward and downward direction; therefore, it can generate both lift and propulsion. This allows the hummingbird to hover more stably than any other bird.

The ruby-throated hummingbird beats its wings about 55 times per second most of the time. During mating season, however, males perform courtship maneuvers for the females, especially a dive display. If the female perches, the male will fly back and forth before her with a wing-beat frequency of 200 beats per second, although it cannot keep this pace for very long. Difficulty: Very Easy.

 

white-throated needletail, spur-winged goose, snowy owl

The hairy frog, also called the horror or wolverine frog, is a native of Central Africa. Its main survival technique is to deliberately break the toe bones and project them through its skin, forming instant sharp "claws" made of bone rather than keratin. The claws appear to retract passively later, and allow the frog to go about its normal business when unmolested.

Perhaps Wolverine took lessons from the hairy frog! Difficulty: Hard.

 

They spit hair-balls at a predator, They can leap to a height of ten feet, They throw stones

Honeybees are being trained by many countries including USA, UK and Croatia with a view to determining how practical sniffer bees are. Tests conducted at Los Alamos National Laboratory, in New Mexico, have already shown the the bees' olfactory abilities allow for the detection of TATP, the primary charge used in many terrorist bombs, as well as being able to detect TNT concealed in motor oil. The downside to the project is that the bees have to be contained in some way rather than allowed to free fly and this leads to a lifespan of, on average, about 48 hours. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Cricket, Dragonfly, Termite

There are many species of cave salamanders. The spotted-tail cave salamander is one of the most interesting. This type of salamander is indigenous to the Midwest and parts of the southern U.S. Because is has no lungs, it breathes through skin pores. It feeds on a diet of insects, worms, and slugs. Its long tail allows it to comfortably hang from cave walls, handy when insects fly by. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Cave springtail, Trogloxene, Ghost lizard

The honey badger (Mellivora capensis) is a member of the Mustelid family which includes stoats, badgers and otters. The name means "honey eater of the Cape" from the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa where it was first described. The name also reflects its habit of raiding the hives of African bees. The highly nutritious "bee brood", the beeswax structure in which queen bees lay their eggs, forms a large part of the honey badger's diet. However, although they have long been associated with honey, the honey badger has a wide-ranging diet which includes snakes and scorpions. In the Kalahari Desert, up to sixty species of prey have been recorded in the diet of the honey badger population.

Although solitary and reclusive by nature, these mainly nocturnal creatures have developed a well-deserved reputation as fearsome and tenacious hunters. They are considered, pound for pound, to be the most deadly of hunters and have been known to face off large predators such as lion. Although protected by their thick, loosely hanging coats, it is also thought that honey badgers have developed an immunity to the venom of prey such as snakes, scorpions and bees. Instances of honey badgers recovering after bites from such highly venomous snakes as the puff adder and king cobra have been recorded. It is small wonder that the "Guinness World Records" accorded the honey badger the title of the "world's most fearless animal".

Honey badgers are also highly intelligent animals. The BBC Two "Natural World" episode entitled "Masters of Mayhem" which details the antics of a honey badger named Stoffel playing Houdini from his enclosure at the Moholoholo Wildlife Sanctuary is an eye-opening example of the cunning and adaptability of the honey badger. It's well worth a watch if you can find the clip online. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Siberian tiger, Cheetah, Grey wolf

Parasitic wasps come in sizes that range from microscopic to about one inch long. In all cases the female selects a host, which can be a caterpillar, bee, spider, anything of that nature. She paralyses it by injecting poison and then lays her eggs inside the body of the chosen host. As the larvae mature they eat the body of the host. By the time they hatch the host is dead.

Parasitic wasps are not considered a pest, and in some places they are even being used as pest control. They can be bought commercially and introduced into an agricultural setting, or even into an area where a non native species is causing problems. They are a very effective natural method of pest control. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Aphids, Scorpions, Ants

As is true for all animals, the difference between gliding and parachuting is the angle at which the animal falls. An animal that is able to move through the air with a descent shallower than 45 degrees is capable of gliding. Frogs that are able to glide do so with extra-large webbing around their toes. The webbing provides them with the surface area necessary for gliding, and in some cases, maneuverability too. There are two families (Rhacophoridae and Hylidae) of frogs capable of gliding, and they are found in many parts of the world. Difficulty: Hard.

 

flying frogs are literally able fly, parachuting frogs have flaps of skin on their backs, parachuting frogs are only nocturnal

The female sea horse lays her eggs in a little pouch in the male's body. The dad has to carry all the eggs around until they hatch and hundreds of baby seahorses come shooting out. Difficulty: Very Easy.

 

polar bear, penguin, spider

Nocturnal animals are active during the night and resting during the day. Difficulty: Very Easy.

 

Nightipherous, Luminophobos, Nicturian

The aardwolf is a type of specialized hyena that feeds on termites. "Aard" is the Africaans word for earth and thus the aardwolf is the "earth wolf". Aardwolves are about the same size (20-30 lbs.) as a US or UK fox and resemble a miniature spotted hyena. The aardwolf, like the unrelated but similarly named aardvark, forages at night for termites. Aardwolves often follow aardvarks in the Serengeti, allowing the aardvark to locate and damage the termite mound, the aardwolves then sharing the scattering insects. The aardwolf is one of the more reclusive animals on the Serengeti and they tend to live in burrows in pairs. As aardwolves are not generally affected by human development, they have not experienced a decrease in their territory or populations over the last fifty years.

Aardvarks are a member of the family of ungulate animals and are a closer relative to the elephant and warthog than the aardwolf. Servals are a small African cat found in the Serengeti that are about the same size as the aardwolf. The zorilla is a fascinating creature that is a member of the weasel family and is often called the African polecat or African skunk. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Aardvark, Serval, Zorilla

The pangolin is a fascinating Asian and African animal covered with keratin scales, and able to roll into a tight ball for protection. Pangolins eat an estimated 70 million insects each year, including ants, termites, flies and crickets. They can seal their nostrils and ears to prevent insects from crawling in; and they have special mouth muscles to keep insects from crawling out. Unfortunately most of the eight species are threatened or endangered. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Iguana, Cobra, Alligator

The pgymy seahorse attaches itself to coral and only briefly detaches. While attached to the coral it is barely distinguishable from the coral itself.
The smallest pygmy seahorse, "Hippocampus satomiae" was described in the journal "Zootaxa" in 2008. This seahorse can be found in the Derawan Islands off Kalimantan. It was named for the diver who found it, Ms. Satomi Onishi. This species of pygmy seahorse grows to about 13.8 mm or 0.54 inch. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Pristella Tetra, Lion Fish, Emperor Angelfish

Bohemian waxwings can be found in Asia, Europe and North America, and are so named because of their red-tipped wings.

These birds have been known to eat insects and flowers, but are almost totally dependent on berries. They are not too particular about the ripeness of the berries they eat, which is why some have been observed getting "drunk" after eating overripe fruit which they pluck from branches. Bohemian waxwings often feed in groups and will pass fruit to one another.

This course has been served up by doublemm. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Waxwings are very particular and will only eat the ripest berries, Under ripe berries contain acids which can kill the waxwing, Waxwings are only able to digest perfectly ripe berries

The eyes of prey are generally located on the sides of their head, giving them the widest possible field of view. The one disadvantage of this is that they cannot judge distance very well - a problem not encountered by most predators, which usually have forward facing eyes.

Lookouts and sentries can be found in groups of meerkats and rabbits, but the snapping shrimp and shrimp goby are an unusual example of interspecies mutualism. In return for keeping watch, the goby is given access to the shelter which the snapping shrimp builds. Difficulty: Hard.

 

It never emerges from below the ground, It rides on the underside of a great white shark, It lives in groups of several thousand, providing herd protection

Chitin is a carbohydrate, not a protein, but serves much the same purpose as proteins such as keratin. In organisms such as insects, arachnids and crustaceans, chitin makes up the protective exoskeleton. Exoskeletons are not always made from chitin, however, as bone and dentine can perform the same function.

Chitin is also the substance which makes up the cell walls of fungal cells. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Cellulose, Keratin, Enamel

Ovology is a branch of zoology (the study of animals) which deals with the study of eggs. While most people think of it in relation to birds' eggs, it also studies other egg-producing species, such as fish and reptiles.

The term oology was also formerly used to describe the study of eggs, but more specifically referred to the hobby of collecting wild birds' eggs (a practice which is now illegal in many places). Ovology includes the study of the breeding habits of birds, and the study of their nests, as well as the actual eggs. Difficulty: Hard.

 

eggology, ornithology, aviology

When attacked, buffaloes sometimes gang up against their predators in self defense. There are instances when the attackers, including lions, have been trampled, gored or treed by the herd. The herd also bunches together with the young ones in the centre and runs at a slower pace to prevent the predator from singling out and attacking any one of the buffaloes.

Mobbing is also seen in birds and other animals. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Knifing, Shooting, Battling

The paradoxical frog has a markedly unusual life cycle indeed! This may be the only creature where the 'babies' are up to four times as big as the parent. Because of this, it is sometimes known as the 'shrinking frog'. In an interesting development, the skin of the South American frog may be used in a synthesised form to treat Type II diabetes. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Two to three feet, They die between tadpole and froglet, They remain in the tadpole stage forever

An incredibly simple tactic, the Romans used catapults to launch beehives against their enemies. This worked both as a means of defense and in attack.
The ancient Romans were not the only group to use bees in this manner - there are records of King Richard using the same tactic against the Saracens during the Crusades, and in more recent history, of beehives being 'booby trapped' with tripwires during World War I. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Ants, Crickets, Mosquitos

Cats have been credited with alerting humans to fires and other dangers by jumping on them and meowing or wailing loudly. For example, Winnie, an American domestic shorthair, won the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals' "Cat of the Year" award in 2007 for alerting her sleeping human family to a carbon monoxide leak.

Reportedly, cats have also served as "seeing eye cats" to their canine buddies. "The Daily Mews" and "Puppy in Training" websites both have stories of cats that have become guides for blind dogs. There are also accounts of cats sensing illness in humans, and there is the story of Oscar the Cat, an inhabitant of a Rhode Island hospice who has an uncanny knack for sensing when a patient is about to die. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Parakeet, Rabbit, Hamster

In the waggle dance the bee moves in a figure of eight, with a waggle run in the middle. The angle of the waggle run indicates the direction of the food, and the duration indicates the distance from the hive. Other bees pick up this information and fly straight to the food. Difficulty: Hard.

 

wriggle dance, zigzag dance, foraging dance

Short-eared elephant shrews live in South Africa. Elephant seals live off the coast of North America.

Information from "Wildlife Atlas, A complete guide to animals and their habitats" Difficulty: Hard.

 

short-eared elephant shrew, bush elephant, elephant seal

Anthropomorphism means "attributing human characteristics to animals or inanimate objects." Anthropophobia is "the fear of humans or human companionship." Anthropophilic means "loving or preferring humans." It is sometimes used to describe parasites such as lice that prefer human hosts, but not large predators. Difficulty: Hard.

 

anthropomorphism, anthropophilic, anthropophobia

Lions tend to live in savannahs, grassy plains, and open woodlands. It would be very unusual to find a lion in a jungle, as these beasts live and hunt on open plains, usually near watering holes. Difficulty: Easy.

 

tundra, desert, taiga

Because people were left homeless themselves or were forced to move far away from their old homes, and because many pet owners thought they'd be right back to get the pets they left behind, animals and their human companions were separated for weeks or months. Most stranded pets were not reunited with human companions at all. The moral: Take your pets with you when you evacuate.
(plus, many government rescuers using helicopters, etc. did not allow pets to come along with their owners) Difficulty: Average.

 

most people were able to locate lost pets within days, almost everyone took their pets with them when they evacuated, most pets sensed the hurricane coming and escaped before it hit

An albino is something with yellow or white skin, feathers, fur, etc. and pink eyes. Leucism is a condition that is like albinism, but the creature has blue or black eyes instead of pink. An animal which has melanism is the opposite of an albino- the animal has an abnormal amount of pigments in its fur, feathers, etc. and is therefore black. Difficulty: Average.

 

Melanistic, Leucistic, None of these

Pet owners also have lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and they can keep fit by exercising with their furry friends. Difficulty: Very Easy.

 

Decrease heart rates, Reduce stress, Lower blood pressure

He also had an alligator tied on his head. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Ibex (large Israeli goat), Hippopotamus, giant Kestrel

A zedonk actually looks like a combination of a zebra and a donkey. Its obvious features are a donkey's ears and a zebra's stripes. It is infertile. Difficulty: Hard.

 

donka, zebky, zebra

Frigid at the best of times, the small town of Churchill in Northern Manitoba has made a name for itself by being the prime spot to get in touch with the wintertime wilderness of the Canadian Shield. Tourists can check out the Northern Lights, sure, but the real attraction is the polar bears who can be seen in the nearby tundra, especially during warmer months. Some wander close to town though, so it's not abnormal to see the big bears just in passing (and provided you keep your distance). Difficulty: Hard.

 

Emperor penguin, Moose, Reindeer

Camels, of course! It is just one of the many physical traits that helps to protect them from all of the sand they walk through. In addition to the extra eye lids and eye lashes they have furry ears which help to keep away dust and sand. Their nostrils are specially made to keep the sand and dust out too, and their feet have two toes each to keep them from sinking in the sand.

The truth of the matter is that there is nowhere in the Bible (check out Matthew 2 as it is the narrative about the wise men) that tells about the three wise men riding camels to Bethlehem in order to visit Christ. While camels were certainly domesticated by the time of Christ's birth, and already vital to the caravan trade as pack animals, realistically speaking, the magi would have been wealthy men who were more likely to have ridden Arabian horses. Who doesn't have at least one camel in their Christmas nativity? I need to find a figure of a horse!
Difficulty: Very Easy.

 

Brown Bear, Barn Owl, Leopard

The common poorwill is a member of the nightjar family, and is found in the western parts of North America, from Canada to northern Mexico. As the family name implies, it is a nocturnal bird and feeds on insects at night. In the colder months, food sources are scarce, and many birds hide in rocks in a state of torpor which can last for months. During this time, the birds' needs for food are kept to a minimum, and the length of inactivity is close to that of hibernation.

This behaviour was first officially recognized in 1948, in a publication by Dr Edmund Jaeger, but the Native American name for the poorwill translates as 'sleeping one', indicating that this was not a new discovery. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Green woodpecker, Sand martin, Barn owl

The club-winged manakin (Machaeropterus deliciosus) has sacrificed many of the benefits of flight in exchange for song. In a 1997 study, Dr. Kim Bostwick of Cornell University's Museum of Vertebrates used a high-speed recorder to capture the manakin beating its wings at more than 100 times per second -- faster than a hummingbird in normal circumstances. When the wings met above the bird's back, a special feather, tip bent at a 45-degree angle, rubbed against another feather with seven separate ridges. Dr. Bostwick concluded this action produces tones similar to a violin.

Unlike most birds, which have sparse and hollow wing bones, the club-winged manakin's are dense and thick. These vibrations are emitted from the feather as sound, rather than absorbed into the bone. While rubbing the wings together is common in the insect world (e.g. crickets), manakins are alone in this in the bird world. Difficulty: Hard.

 

blue-footed booby, yellow-bellied sapsucker, duckbilled platypus

Carpenter ants (Camponotus ssp.) live in wooded areas in many areas around the world. They can forage as a working group or alone.

When threatened by a vastly superior enemy, the worker ant will suck in its abdomen so quickly that the walls of its body will explode violently, projecting an array of toxins with great force. Presumably this is designed to hurt, or at least repel, a predator sufficiently to deter it from attacking the home nest. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Hyena, Platypus, Golden orb spider

Dolphins have been used by the U.S. and Russian Navies for many years. The American programme also uses sea lions and is based in San Diego, California, where other than mine detection, the animals are also trained in the recovery of objects and assisting persons in difficulties. Difficulty: Very Easy.

 

Squid, Walrus, Penguins

Eastern coral snakes are seven inches long when they hatch out of their eggs, but they will grow to two feet in total. When they hatch, they are fully venomous, too. Eastern coral snakes are found in the USA, where they are the only venomous snakes that lay eggs. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Five months, Two years, Twenty years

The yellow-eyed penguin is found on the south-east coast of New Zealand's South Island and further south. It is the sole surviving penguin in the Megadyptes genus and appears to have moved north into the territory of the now-extinct Waitaha penguin of the same genus.

The population numbers around 4,000, making it one of the world's rarest penguins. The Waitaha penguin seems to have disappeared by the 15th century, with hunting by settlers probably playing a part in the extinction. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Fiji, Australia, Solomon Islands

Since it has no stomach, this flatworm takes in food which gets absorbed by cells inside it. It absorbs oxygen and fluids through its skin. Since it cannot see at all, sense organs detect chemical changes in the water that alerts it to nearby food. Blind flatworms dine on isopods and bat guano that has fallen to the cave floor. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Blind slug, Cave cricket, Cave spider

Smaller than the more common spotted hyena, the brown hyena (Hyaena brunnea) is one of the three bone-crushing species of hyena. It is found mainly in the arid parts of southern Africa including the coastal desert areas. The rarest of the four known species of hyena, the brown hyena is dark brown in colour with a white mane behind the ears. It sports a distinguishing dorsal crest which becomes a long haired mantle over the shoulders. It has a nearly black face and horizontal stripes on its legs.

The brown hyena is a consummate scavenger who is an opportunistic and omnivorous feeder with a wide-ranging diet. Its digestive system has adapted to cope with items not normally eaten by other mammals. The name "strandwolf" or "beach wolf" stems from its habit of scavenging for dead seal pups along desert beaches. Although it is solitary when hunting or scavenging, it lives in small families called clans, each with its own territory. The size of these territories as well as the size of the clan is determined by the availability of food. Secretive and nocturnal in behaviour, brown hyenas have been known to cover up to 32 kilometres in a single night while foraging.

Although the reclusive nature and wide-ranging territories of the brown hyena make accurate figures difficult to establish, it is estimated that the total population of the species is only some 5000-8000 individuals.
Difficulty: Hard.

 

Laughing hyena, Smiling hyena, Striped hyena