Animal Bingo Trivia Quiz

Answer: Five (5)

You would better know sea-stars as starfish but the latter is a bit of a misnomer, as fish have backbones and the sea-star/starfish is an invertebrate.

"Most" sea-stars have spiny skin and five arms or, more accurately, tubular feet. These arms are festooned with a series of suckers and pincers, which enable it to move. On the tips of these arms are their eyespots, which are light sensitive, that they use to locate their food.

There are approximately 1,900 known species of sea-stars across the globe. As stated, the majority of these are blessed with five arms but some will have between six and fifteen arms. However, the grand-daddy of them all is the Antarctic sun sea-star, also known as the wolftrap starfish, which is born with five limbs but will grow additional arms as it ages and have up to fifty in its lifetime.

Answer: Thirteen (13)

Various sources confirm this number, including the US Department of the Interior and the BBC's Wildlife magazine.

The otter is a member of the Mustelidae family, which also includes skunks, wolverines and weasels. They are identified as a "keystone" species because they are critical to the health of an ecosystem. For example, sea otters along the Pacific coast of the USA play a part in the control of the sea urchin population in this area. By reducing the number of sea urchins they prevent the kelp forest from being overgrazed which, in turn, maintains the health of the sea beds. This creates a stronger environment for the development of a more diverse ecosystem.

Answer: Eight (8)

The eight spotted moth is native to Canada but can be found in specific areas from Nova Scotia all the way down to Florida. These are, generally, woodlands. They have black wings that bear eight white patches and this, along with their habit of being around flowers, has often seen them mistaken for butterflies.

Even more noticeable than those spots are their bright orange-red leg hairs. These guys really want to stand out in a crowd. They love to feed on vine leaves and creepers but, as adults, they're also likely to add a dose of nectar to their diet. I wonder if they have to produce ID to partake in the nectar... sorry, bad dad joke.

Answer: Three (3)

Why does an octopus require three hearts? Part of the reason is because it has blue blood. As humans, we have red blood because our haemoglobin is an iron-based protein. Cephalopods, such as the octopus, use haemocyanin, which is a copper-based protein.

This is a much larger protein than haemoglobin and, when it comes to binding with oxygen it is significantly less efficient. Hence, if the octopus had only one heart, it would have its work cut out for it. To compensate, the octopus has two branchial hearts whose job it is to gather up the de-oxygenated blood.

They push this out through the gills. The third heart, the systematic heart, has the ability to generate a greater pressure than the branchial hearts and has the task of pushing the oxygen rich blood through the cephalopod's body.

Answer: Sixty four (64)

The cheetah is the fastest land animal on Earth, but there is a marked difference between its top speed and its "average" speed. As shown above, its average speed is 64 kilometres an hour (40 miles per hour). However, the cheetah is a creature that prefers to sneak up on its prey and then pounce on it after a very short burst of high speed. These high speeds could be as much as 120 kilometres an hour (75 miles per hour). Whilst this sounds very impressive (and it is) the cat can only maintain this rate for a very short distance... hence the sneaking up and the need for a quick kill.

To be able to run this fast the cheetah needs to be built for speed. To this end, it is a lightweight at 56.5 kilograms (125 pounds), it has a small aerodynamic head, a flattened ribcage, hard footpads and semi-retractable claws. In addition, it has an enlarged heart and lungs to facilitate a large amount of air intake and blood oxygenation. And, to cap it all off, it has greater flexibility in its spine, hips and shoulders. Truly a remarkable beast.

Answer: Eleven (11)

Whilst sexual maturity amongst female orangutans in the wild can begin as young as eleven years of age this can also extend to about fourteen years. They are likely to produce their first offspring by the time they are fifteen or sixteen years old. On average, they will give birth to a single offspring every seven and a half years.

Her menstrual cycle occurs every 29-32 days and this is likely to last three to four days. Their gestation period is eight and a half months and the baby is likely to weigh about three and a half pounds.

Answer: Six (6)

You may have witnessed your cat rousing itself from a deep sleep and there is this filmy layer over its eyes as it stares back at you. Don't panic, it is just that third eyelid... your cat will blink a couple of times and the membrane will retract into the inner corners of its eyes.

Just like humans, the cat has two eyelids, an upper and a lower eyelid, on each eye. This makes four in total, so far. However, unlike a human, it has a third in each eye (making six in total), that is medically referred to as a "nictitating membrane". This membrane is a protective layer for the cornea. It prevents debris getting into the cornea and also redistributes tears over it. This is a highly useful adaptation for the cat when it is stalking through tall grass.

Answer: Four (4)

Ruminants are herbivorous creatures that digest their food numerous times. In other words, they chew grass, regurgitate it, chew it again and end up digesting it in various chambers in their stomach. Our most identifiable example is the cow.

Each of the four compartments in the cow's stomach serves a different purpose:
The rumen, also known as the paunch, is made up of several sacs. It is the largest of the compartments and, as such, also serves as the cow's storage or feed bin. The rumen is also the cow's fermentation tank where it produces a number of microbes that digest the feed and turn it into VFAs (volatile fatty acids).

Connected to the rumen is the reticulum which, because of its shape, is also known as the honeycomb. Made primarily of muscle, this is the compartment that forces the food back up the esophagus and into the cow's mouth. The cow is now "un-swallowing" so that it can re-chew its food.

The omasum is made up of leaf like tissue that absorbs water and other digested juices and the abomasum, which is a non-ruminant compartment, contains a series of glands that release hydrochloric acids to breakdown the feed.

Answer: Two (2)

Mayflies are also known as shadflies, fishflies and, in the UK, as up-winged flies. The adults can live to an average of one to two days but most are here and gone within two hours. Barely enough time to do their duty and disappear. The doozie of these creatures is the adult female of Dolania americana species that has a lifespan of less than five minutes.

That said, the flies do go through three different stages: the egg, which is dropped on the surface of lakes and streams, the nymph which is 1 millimetre long when it emerges from the egg and lives in the sediment at the bottom of its freshwater environment. To be fair to the mayfly, this phase of its life can last up to two years while it matures. Finally, they emerge as adults. From this moment, their sole purpose is to mate and reproduce. As a consequence of their short lifespan, it may not be possible for all of them to achieve their goal.

Answer: Forty (40)

Scientists have deduced that, to date, we have only scratched the surface when it comes to the identification of all the animal species on the planet. They conservatively estimate that they have described ten percent of these creatures.

That said, of mammals, they feel that they have identified and described at least 80% of that class and agree that most of these are rodents. Oh rats! (Sorry, not sorry). One of the reasons for this lack of identification is that there are numerous small, and subtle, differences between the species that they can be easily overlooked. For example, a common species of brown bats in North America, was discovered in 2018 to be five distinct species. This is important data as it enables them to delve deeper into this diversity, it allows us to understand how they work within an ecosystem and, as in the bat example, scientists are able to determine the number in existence and what their conservation priority should be.

Needless to say, as the bulk of Mammalia is made up of Rodentia, it is anticipated that bulk of the unidentified 20% is also likely to be amongst our rats, mice, beavers, hamsters, pikas etc.