Dogs and their Relatives Trivia Quiz

Answer: Gray wolf

The gray wolf, whose range includes Asia, Europe, and North America, can be up to five feet or 160cm in length and weigh up to 175 pounds or 80kg. Some breeds of dog, such as the Great Dane and the mastiff, can be almost as large.

Answer: No

While most members of the Canidae family live and hunt in cooperative packs or family groups, some canids, such as the maned wolf of South America and the raccoon dog of Asia, are solitary animals except for mating season.

Answer: Raccoon

While somewhat similar to the Canidae family in appearance and habitat, the raccoon belongs to the Procyonidae family of mammals. Native to North America, raccoons are the largest members of the Procyonidae family, which includes coatis and kinkajous as well.

Answer: Dingo

The dingo is thought to be either a subspecies related to wolves or dogs, but some scientists consider it as a separate species. Researchers believe that the dingo was brought to Australia some 8,000 years ago as a working dog, but some escaped and became feral. Dingoes still exist in the wild and the species can be domesticated, but are unpredictable as adults.

Answer: Red fox

The red fox averages 14-20 inches or 35 to 50cm in height and 18-35 inches or 45-90cm in length and weighs up to 30 pounds or 14kg, making it the largest of the fox species. Red foxes are found in North America, Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa, and were imported to Australia beginning in the 1830s for the sport of fox hunting.

Answer: North America

The coyote is a canid species that is smaller than the wolf and larger than the fox. Coyotes average 3 to 4 feet, or 1 to 1.4 meters, in length and weigh up to 45 pounds or 20kg. They range over all of North America and usually hunt in family groups. Coyotes are extremely adaptable animals, and they have become pests in many urban areas in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

Answer: Fennec fox

The fennec fox, native to North Africa, is the smallest species of fox and the canid family. Ranging in length from 13 to 15 inches or 34 to 40cm and weighing up to 5 pounds or 1 to 1.5 kg, the fennec fox has very long ears, which help dissipate heat in the desert environment. Fennec foxes live in family groups, but generally hunt alone, usually for rodents and lizards.

They also eat insects, fruit, and leaves.

Answer: Painted wolf

Found mostly in Southern and Eastern Africa, the African wild dog is the largest canid native to Africa. It is also known as the painted wolf due to its coloring. It stands at some 30 inches or 75cm in height and is about 45 inches or 70cm long, weighing up to 37kg or 80 pounds.

They live and hunt in packs, with the dominant male and female the only breeding pair. The African wild dog is considered an endangered species due to loss of habitat.

Answer: Dhole

The dhole, now found only in India, China, and Southeast Asia, was once indigenous to most of Central Asia, the Korean Peninsula, and parts of Russia. Dholes are social animals that live in clans, several of which often join together to hunt large prey.

It is thought that the dhole is distantly related to African wild dogs, though this is unconfirmed. Dholes average 37 to 44 inches or 88 to 113cm in length, 17 to 21 inches or 42 to 50cm in height, and weigh up to 21 kg or 45 pounds. Dholes are endangered in the wild.

Answer: Chihuahua

Humans first domesticated the dog from wolves as long as 30,000 years ago. It is thought that early farming societies began selectively breeding dogs to obtain better hunting and herding animals, possibly as long as 10,000 years ago. The intensive breeding of dogs to create different, "purebred" animals began in earnest in the mid-19th century, leading to the creation of most of today's dog breeds.

The Chihuahua, the smallest of the recognized breeds, or similar small dogs were mentioned by Spanish conquistadors as being used for food in the Aztec Empire in the 1500s CE.

The first Chihuahua was registered by the AKC in 1904.