Only in Sri Lanka Trivia Quiz

There are a number of species given this name, but Trimeresurus trigonocephalus, now identified as Craspedocephalus trigonocephalus, is endemic to Sri Lanka. The binomial name indicates that its head is distinctively flattened and triangular in shape, while its common name refers to its obvious green colour, and to the fact that it is a venomous member of the pit viper family. Pit vipers differ from other vipers because they have an indentation between the eye and nostril on each side of their head which are the openings of organs that detect infrared radiation - heat sensors that help them locate their prey.

Also known as the purple-faced leaf monkey, Semnopithecus vetulus is a long-tailed arboreal monkey that is mostly brown, with white areas that vary between the four subspecies, and a purplish-blackish face and white sideburns. They live in the closed canopy rainforests of Sri Lanka, and the steady encroachment of humans into the forest regions has reduced their range, leading to them becoming endangered. They are currently found in small groups, scattered throughout the region and having little contact with each other.

While the purple-faced langurs generally avoid humans, they do sometimes venture into fruit-growing areas, where they enjoy bananas, mangoes and rambutan. Unfortunately, too much fruit can disrupt their digestive system, reducing the number of specialised stomach bacteria which ordinarily mean they can extract all the nutrients they need from a diet of leaves.

Also known as Lafayette's junglefowl, Gallus lafayettii belongs to the same order as chickens, turkeys and quail. Its name is in honour of the same Marquise de La Fayette who was involved in the American Revolution, for reasons I haven't been able to locate. Presumably the person allocated the task of naming the species admired him! They are the national bird of Sri Lanka, and can be found all over the country.

Like most junglefowl, this species is sexually dimorphic - the males (like the one pictured) are larger than the females, and have an orange-brown body with a purple-black tail and a red comb that has a yellow stripe. Females are brown with some white markings. This may seem boring, but it is beneficial in making it easier for them to hide in the grass while nesting.

Tetrathemis yerburii, also known as Yerbury's elf, is a species of dragonfly found only in Sri Lanka. It is a member of the family of dragonflies known as skimmers (who, along with the perchers, form the family Libellulidae). Their genus is found widely in Africa, Asia, Australia and islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

The elf dragonfly dwells in lowland forests, often near rivers. Loss of habitat is an issue for them, as for many others.

As its common name suggests, Pseudophilautus rus is a frog that was first identified in 2005 by K. Manamendra-Arachchi and R. Pethiyagoda, in suburban gardens around Kandy. It can also be found in wetland forests, and its species name was chosen to reflect this - it is Latin for fields or the countryside.

Like other members of the genus Pseudophilautus, they lay eggs that hatch into smaller versions of the adult, with no metamorphosis between a tadpole and an adult stage. Almost all species in this genus are found in southern India and Sri Lanka. Most of the species that have ben identified are now extinct - although since they are so small (about 2cm in length as an adult), they can be easily overlooked, and a few species previously thought to have been extinct have in fact reappeared.

Lankascincus gansi - the genus tells you that it is one of the many types of skink endemic to Sri Lanka, while the species was named in honour of the herpetologist Carl Gans by AE Greer, who first identified them as a separate species in 1991. Their range is in the lowlands of the southern part of Sri Lanka, where they are found in gardens and forest areas. Like many skinks, they are most active at dawn and dusk, and spend their days concealed under logs and leaf litter.

The formal name of this bird is Loriculus beryllinus. The genus Loriculus is composed of a number of species called hanging parrots because of their unusual ability to sleep upside down, hanging from a branch. There are fifteen species, widespread in southern parts of Asia, but this species is found only in Sri Lanka.

They are small parrots, about five inches long, with bright green plumage. The adult Sri Lankan hanging parrot has a red head and red markings near its tail, with orange on the nape of the neck that extends partway down the back.

The throat and chin are blue, and the beak bright orange.

The locals call it the red babbler, an alternative name used by some is the rufous babbler (rufous meaning a reddish-brown colour), and its binomial name, Argya rufescens, also refers to that colouring. The orange bill is also clearly visible in the image. It is related to, but no longer considered a subspecies of, a group known as jungle babblers, found in various parts of the Indian subcontinent.

They are known for their tendency to gather in groups of 7-10 birds, and are found in the jungle, from which they rarely emerge. They are easily seen if you visit the Sinharaja Forest Reserve, which is a good place to spot many of the other animals in this quiz.

Funambulus layardi, also called the flame-striped jungle squirrel (for reasons that are obvious from the picture) is found in the central highlands of Sri Lanka. The genus name is Latin for rope-dancer (hence the term funambulist for a circus performer who works on a wire or rope), and all five known species of the subgenus F. Funambulus are found in India and/or Sri Lanka. There is another subgenus, F. Prasadsciurus, whose members are found as far north as Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Iran.

The flame-striped jungle squirrel has a bushy tail about the same length as its body, around 5 inches. Its fur is dark brown on the top, with three stripes, the middle one wider than the others, that are orange or yellow (depending on the subspecies). They are diurnal (active during the day foraging for food), but at night make a lot of noise from their positions in the treetops.

Moschiola meminna is one of three currently recognized species of the genus Moschiola, which was for many years considered to be monotypic, meaning there was only one species in the genus. Previously, M. meminna referred to all of the chevrotains. Now the Indian spotted chevrotain, the white spotted chevrotain and the yellow striped chevrotain are considered as separate species.

Chevrotains are also called mouse-deer, a family that has ten extant species, placed in three genera, but more members in the fossil record. The smallest hoofed mammals, they are not a deer, as the name mouse-deer implies, but are more closely related to antelopes.