Mixed Animals Trivia Trivia Quiz

Answer: Reindeer

To cope with the complete light in summer and darkness in winter, the Arctic reindeer has a reflective layer behind the retina of its eyes, which contain the light-sensitive cells. The reflective layer controls the light to the eyes.

In summer, the eyes turn gold when most light is reflected to the retina. In the winter, the eyes turn blue when the retina reflects less light.

Answer: Hyrax

The hyrax, which is also called the dassie or rock rabbit, is a small, herbivorous mammal, native to Africa and the Middle East. Despite its resemblance to rodents such as the guinea pig, it is actually a mammal and closely related to the elephant, sharing some common features such as the structure of the feet and tusk-like incisors. It is between 30 and 70 cm long (12 to 28 in), weighs between 2 and 5 kg (4.4 to 11 lb), with a lifespan of 9 to 14 years.

Answer: Leech

Instead of a single centralized brain, the nervous system of a leech is made of 32 ganglia, with one "mini-brain" on each of its 32 segments, all linked together. In each segment, the ganglion regulates itself and operates independently, so it is said to have 32 "mini brains" in physiological terms.

Answer: Clark's Nutcracker

The incredible feat of spatial memory of the Clark's nutcracker directly influences the ecosystems they inhabit. A single bird can carry up to 80 pine seeds time in a specialized pouch under its tongue (sublingual pouch).

It can bury around 98,000 nuts over several months in up to 30,000 locations. It can then recall the location of many of them several months later, even when the seeds are buried under the snow. Those they don't locate germinate, creating more trees to produce more seeds for them.

Answer: Sloth

It is impressive that the sloth, a tree dwelling mammal, can hold its breath under water for as much as 40 minutes. It does this by slowing its heart rate by about one-third, thereby using less energy so it does not need to breathe as frequently. The sloth can escape a predator by staying underwater.

The hippopotamus can hold its breath for about five minutes, the dugong for six minutes and the walrus for thirty minutes.

Answer: Woodpecker

The tongue of a woodpecker is almost one third of its body size, about 10 cm (4 in) in length. The sticky tongue is supported by a hyoid which is under the lower beak and the jaw. The feature allows the bird to fit the tongue inside its small mouth. The tongue helps the bird to breathe, swallow and wrap it around the head for protection.

Answer: Mexico

The axolotl is a critically endangered species in its native habitat of the lake complex of Xochimilco near Mexico City. It is a unique type of salamander known for its ability to regenerate most body parts, including limbs, parts of its heart, and even sections of its brain.

It has a distinctive, perpetually smiling appearance, a broad head, and feathery external gills that protrude from the back of the head. The amphibian can grow up to 300 cm (12 in) long and comes in various colors, with the wild type being dark or spotted and captive-bred ones often white or pink. It does not undergo metamorphosis to live on land, and remains fully aquatic, retaining its gills and tail fin, a trait called neoteny.

Answer: California

The vaquita is found in the most restricted geographic range of any marine mammal, living exclusively in a small, shallow area of the upper Gulf of California. According to surveys in 2024 and 2025, there are fewer than 10 individuals remaining in the wild in the Gulf of California.

Known for distinctive dark rings around its eyes and curved black lips, its name means "little cow" in Spanish. It can grow to a maximum length of 1.52 m (5 ft) making it the smallest Cetacean among all the cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises). It has a stocky, dark gray body that fades to a lighter gray underneath, and a rounded head with no snout. It is also called the "panda of the sea" due to the facial markings.

It is very shy and elusive, avoiding boats and rarely jumping or splashing at the surface, making them difficult to observe in the wild. It uses echolocation to navigate and find prey, which includes small fish, squid, and crustaceans.

Answer: Goat

The markhor is a large wild goat species found in high mountainous regions of Asia between 600 m and 3,600 m (2,000 to 11,800 ft). During winter, it migrates to lower elevation to find food.

The male has corkscrew-spiral horns which can grow up to 1.6 m (63 in) in length. The female's horns are much smaller. Adult males, which weigh up to 110 kg (243 lb), have light brown to black coats. During winter, the coat grows longer and thicker for insulation. The males have long, shaggy beard and a mane on their chest and shanks, which is less pronounced in females.

Answer: Pigeons

At Tokyo's Keio University, Professor Shigeru Watanabe conducted research to train and reward pigeons to differentiate between children's watercolor and pastel paintings that had been graded as either "good" or "bad" by art teachers and a panel of adults.

The trained pigeons successfully learned to peck at the "good" paintings with high accuracy. They were able to recognize new paintings they had not seen before, consistently choosing the ones human judges deemed "good". The experiment shows that they were not just memorizing specific images but were learning general visual cues.

The studies indicated that the pigeons used visual cues like color, texture, and pattern to make their judgments. When the paintings were converted to grayscale or pixelated, their ability to discriminate decreased.

In related studies, Professor Watanabe also successfully trained pigeons to distinguish between the different artistic styles of Monet and Picasso.