Mammal Miscellany Trivia Quiz

Answer: echidna

Monotremes are distinct from both marsupials, whose young are nurtured in a pouch in their mother's abdomen, and placental mammals, whose offspring develops more fully within the mother's uterus. All five extant species of monotremes lay eggs, and are also significantly different in anatomical terms: for instance, they have no mammary glands, and milk is secerned from openings in the animal's skin.

Echidnas belong to the family Tachyglossidae, which comprises four species, three of which are endemic to New Guinea, and one, the short-nosed echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus), is also found in Australia. Covered with coarse hairs and spines resembling those of hedgehogs and porcupines, echidnas feed on ants, termites, worms and insect larvae. The other monotreme family is the family Ornithorhynchidae, which consists of a single living species, the duck-billed platypus (Ornitorynchus anatinus), endemic to eastern Australia and Tasmania.

The koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) and the wallaby (various species in the family Macropodidae) are both marsupials, while the dingo (Canis lupus dingo) is a canid (family Canidae of the order Carnivora).

Answer: insects and other invertebrates

In the past, shrews and hedgehogs were grouped in the order Insectivora, based on the main component of their diet. However, with the advent of DNA sequencing, this grouping has become obsolete, and its former members have been placed in the order Eulipotyphla (meaning "truly lacking blind intestine"). This order comprises four families: Erinaceidae (hedgehogs), Soricidae (true shrews), Talpidae (moles) and Solenodontidae (solenodons).

Though the animals in the order Eulipotyphla primarily feed on insects and other small invertebrates, most of them are omnivorous, also eating seeds, nuts and other plant matter. The two species of solenodons (both of which possess venomous saliva) are also known to eat vertebrate carrion. Some species of shrews are also venomous. Although true shrews look a lot like mice, they are only very distantly related to them. There are also a number of other small mammals called shrews (such as tree shrews and elephant shrews) that, however, belong to different families or orders.

While there are many mammal species that feed on fish or seeds and grains, only three species of bats of the subfamily Desmodontinae - the vampire bats - feed exclusively on blood.

Answer: grizzly bear

Though the family Ursidae belongs to the mammal order Carnivora, most of the eight living species of bears are omnivorous. In particular, brown bears (Ursus arctos) are among the most omnivorous animals on Earth. Grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis), a North American subspecies of the brown bear, feed on a large variety of plant life, including roots, flowers and fruit. In fact, a brown bear's claws are highly suited to digging for bulbs and roots, though obviously they also are a formidable weapon. When brown bears eat meat it is mostly fish, small birds and mammals, reptiles, mollusks and insects.

Though bears can get aggressive when threatened, especially when they have young, and attacks against humans occur, these majestic animals are not hunters by nature like big cats or even wolves. Indeed, the only bear species that is almost exclusively carnivorous is the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) - for rather obvious reasons.

The three animals listed as wrong answers are all true carnivores. The least weasel (Mustela nivalis) is one of the smallest mammal predators, while the snow leopard (Panthera uncia) is one of the big cats, closely related to the tiger. The harbour seal (Phoca vitulina), a marine mammal, feeds on fish, crustaceans and mollusks.

Answer: Eurasian wild boar

A native of Eurasia and North Africa, introduced to the Americas and Oceania (where it has become an invasive species), the Eurasian wild boar (Sus scrofa) is the ancestor of the domestic pig. Easily adaptable to new habitats, it is also one of the world's most widespread mammals, sometimes found also in urban areas. The Eurasian wild boar is a large animal, with short, thin legs supporting a massive upper body with a characteristic hump and a huge head, which the boar uses to dig for food. An adult male can weigh as much as 320 kg (711 lb), and reach a shoulder height of 125 cm (49 in): the largest specimens have been recorded in parts of Northeastern Asia, while those found in Europe tend to be considerably smaller.

Wild boars have been hunted and eaten by humans since prehistory. This is reflected in myths from many different cultures, often featuring monstrous, extremely aggressive wild boars - such as the Erymanthian Boar captured by Herakles for his fourth labour.

The red river hog (Potamochoerus porcus) and the common warthog (Phacochoerus africanus), both native to Africa, and the Philippine warty pig (Sus philippensis) are all smaller than the Eurasian wild boar. On the other hand, the giant forest hog (Hylochoerus meinertzhageni), also an African species, can grow as heavy as 275 kg (606 lb), and is often cited as the heaviest member of the family Suidae on average.

Answer: narwhal

The narwhal (Monodon monoceros) belongs to the family Monodontidae of the infraorder Cetacea; the beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) is the other living member of this family. Both these cetaceans inhabit the cold waters of the Arctic region. Male and female narwhals have two canine teeth embedded in the upper jaw: in males, the left of these teeth grows into a long, spiraling tusk extending forward from the head. A narwhal's tusk can reach a length of up to 3 m (9.1 ft); it is believed to be a secondary sexual characteristic that indicates status rather than a weapon or a tool for feeding.

The binomial name of the narwhal means "one-toothed unicorn" in Greek: their tusks were highly sought after in the Middle Ages and later, in particular on account of their supposed magical properties. Still hunted for their skin and meat as well as their tusks, teeth and bones, narwhals are also vulnerable to climate change. Their numbers, however, are relatively healthy, so that the species is classified by IUCN as Least Concern (2017).

Answer: bats and cetaceans

Also known as biosonar, echolocation is an active sonar used by certain animal species both in the air and underwater. The animals emit calls, which are returned to them as echoes by objects near them: this allows them to locate and identify these objects. Bats and toothed whales (such as dolphins and orcas) use a more sophisticated form of echolocation, while a few terrestrial mammals (such as shrews) use simpler forms. Some bird species (namely oilbirds and some swiftlets) are also known to use a crude form of echolocation, mainly for navigation purposes.

Being nocturnal animals, bats use echolocation for hunting insects and navigating in the darkness; they generate ultrasounds in the larynx, and emit them through their open mouths. On the other hand, toothed whales have nasal airsacs below their blowhole that produce click-like sounds - often very loud ones. They also have a mass of adipose tissue (known as melon) in their foreheads, which controls and focuses their vocalizations.

Answer: tamarin

Tamarins are New World monkeys belonging to the genus Saguinus of the primate family Callitrichidae (which also includes marmosets and lion tamarins). They are small animals, more or less the size of a squirrel, with a long tail (up to 44 cm/17.3 in) - a distinguishing feature of New World monkeys. They are diurnal and arboreal, and are found in tropical rainforests and open forests from southern Central America to central South America. Though quick and agile in their movements, tamarins - like other members of their family - are vulnerable to the many predators that live in the same environment.

Tamarins often have distinctive facial hair resembling a mustache: the emperor tamarin (Saguinus imperator) of the western Amazon basin owes its name to the supposed resemblance of its long white mustache to the German Emperor Wilhelm II.

The chinchilla (Chinchilla chinchilla) is a rodent that lives in the Andes Mountains, while the vicuņa (Lama vicugna) is a camelid related to the llama, and the margay (Leopardus wiedii) is a small wild cat.

Answer: True

Elephants are the only three living members of the order Proboscidea, which once included mighty creatures such as the mastodon and the woolly mammoth. The order is named for its members' most distinctive feature, their trunk ("proboskis" in Greek). The three extant species of elephant are the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana) and the African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis). The latter was once considered a subspecies of the much larger African bush elephant, which is the largest living land animal: a mature bull can reach a shoulder height of over 3.5 m (11.5 ft), and a weight of over 7 tonnes (15,400 lb), though larger specimens have been recorded.

The African forest elephant, which is only found in restricted areas of West and Central Africa, is classified by IUCN as Critically Endangered (2020), while the other two species are classified as Endangered (2019 for the Asian elephant, 2022 for the African bush elephant). All three species are threatened by habitat loss and poaching for ivory, although the trade of ivory sourced from endangered species is illegal.

Answer: Arctic hare

Like all rabbits and hares, the Arctic hare (Lepus arcticus), is not a rodent, but belongs to the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha. The other living family in this order (Otochonidae) includes pikas, small mountain-dwelling mammals. Lagomorphs (meaning "having the form of a hare" in Greek) were once classified in the order Rodentia, but were placed in a separate order in the early 20th century because of some major differences between the two orders.

As its name suggests, the Arctic hare inhabits the Arctic tundra of North America (including Greenland), though it is also found in the northern part of Newfoundland and Labrador. One of the largest members of its order, it is well adapted to its harsh environment, with its mostly white fur and lower metabolic rate. Arctic hares that live further south have brown or grey fur in the summer, which they shed before the arrival of winter to grow a new white coat. The snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) also changes the colour of its fur according to the season.

The capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) is the world's largest rodent: like the nutria, or coypu (Myocastor coypus) and the European beaver (Castor fiber), it is a semiaquatic mammal.

Answer: zebra

The family Equidae of the order Perissodactyla ("odd-toed" in Greek) contains only one extant genus, Equus, which includes horses, donkeys and zebras for a total of seven living species. The order also includes tapirs (family Tapiridae) and rhinos (family Rhinocerotidae). All these animals, characterized by having only three or one of the original five weight-bearing toes, are herbivorous. Equids have a single toe, while rhinos have three, and tapirs have four on their front feet and three on their hind feet.

There are three living species of zebra, all native to Africa: the plains zebra (Equus quagga), the mountain zebra (Equus zebra) and the Grevy's zebra (Equus grevyi). A subspecies of the plains zebra, the quagga (Equus quagga quagga), went extinct in the 19th centuries. Zebras' distinctive black-and-white striped coats provide a form of camouflage known as motion dazzle, meant to confuse their prospective predators.

The three wrong answers are all members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. The llama (Lama glama) belongs to the family Camelidae, the reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) to the family Cervidae, and the bison (Bison bison) to the family Bovidae.