Animal Words - Mammals Online Quiz | Thematic Animals

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. To pester or aggressively question somebody (6 letters)

Answer: Meles meles

Meles meles, the badger - a common European mammal of the family Mustelidae (otters, weasels, &c). The verb "to badger", meaning to pester or persistently annoy somebody, possibly comes from the animal's feeding habits, rooting in the ground for worms and insects.

The animal's name is thought to derive from the white blaze on its forehead: "bageard" in Middle English means "marked with a badge".

2. To talk incessantly and annoyingly (6 letters)

Answer: Oryctolagus cuniculus

Oryctolagus cuniculus, the rabbit - a common European mammal of the family Leporidae (hares, rabbits, pika, &c). The verb "to rabbit", meaning to talk incessantly and often childishly, probably comes from the Cockney rhyming slang phrase "rabbit and pork", meaning to talk. Older quizzers may remember the Chas and Dave recording of "Rabbit" in 1980 with the line "you've got more rabbit than Sainsbury's".

The origin of the animal's name is very obscure but is thought to derive from Middle Dutch or Walloon.

3. To trick or outwit somebody by cunning - or to discolour paper (3 letters)

Answer: Vulpes vulpes

Vulpes vulpes, the red fox - a mammal of the family Canidae (dogs, jackals, coyotes, &c) found commonly worldwide. The verb "to fox", meaning to deceive or behave craftily, probably comes from the animal's reputation for cunning behaviour often alluded to in folk and fairy tales.

The alternative meaning used to describe discoloured paper probably comes from the reddish colour of the marks that appear on old paper when water from the paper reacts with acids in the air. The animal's name derives from the Proto-Indo-European "puksos" meaning "the tailed one", from "puk" meaning tail.

4. An internal spy within an enemy intelligence agency (4 letters)

Answer: Talpa europaea

Talpa europaea, the mole - a common European mammal of the family Talpidae (many species throughout Eurasia and North America). The noun "mole", meaning a secret agent who burrows their way into an enemy intelligence or other government agency comes by extension from the animal's burrowing habit.

This term was first made public by the author John Le Carre in his 1974 novel, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy", although Le Carre himself said that the Soviet intelligence agency the KGB used it before then.

The earliest reference to spies as "moles", however, is in 1626 in a book by Sir Francis Bacon. The animal's name derives from the Proto-Germanic word "mulhaz".

5. To work hard (6 letters)

Answer: Castor canadensis

Castor canadensis, the beaver - a common Northern hemisphere rodent. The verb "to beaver (away)", meaning to work hard and steadily, probably comes from the observable behaviour of the animal and its dam-building habits. The animal's name is thought to derive from the colour of its fur, from the Proto-Indo-European "babhru" meaning "red-brown".

6. To eat (something) voraciously (4 letters)

Answer: Canis lupus

Canis lupus lupus, the grey wolf - a mammal of the family Canidae (dogs, jackals, coyotes, &c) found in Eurasia and North America. The verb "to wolf", meaning to eat greedily or to gulp down, probably comes from the animal's reputation for eating greedily. The animal's name derives from the Proto-Indo-European "wlkwos" via the Proto-Germanic "wulfaz".

7. To search diligently or to uncover (6 letters)

Answer: Mustelo fura

Mustelo fura, the ferret - a Eurasian mammal of the family Mustelidae (weasels, badgers, otters, etc.). The verb "to ferret (out)", meaning to search and uncover, comes from the use of the animal in hunting rabbits - the ferret is introduced into a rabbit warren and scares the dwellers therein to exit rapidly into the hunter's nets.

The animal's name derives from the Latin "furittus" meaning "little thief".

8. To run very fast or wildly (4 letters)

Answer: Lepus europeaus

Lepus europeaus, the hare - a common European mammal of the family Leporidae (hares, rabbits, pika, &c). The verb "to hare", meaning to move swiftly, probably comes from the animal's fast running. The animal's name "hare" derives from the Proto-Indo-European "haswaz" meaning "grey".

9. To betray somebody (3 letters)

Answer: Rattus norvegicus

Rattus norvegicus, the brown rat - a rodent common world-wide (many species). The verb "to rat", meaning to betray somebody, comes by extension from early 20th-century American slang, in which "ratting" meant passing on information. The animal's name possibly derives from the Proto-Indo-European word "rehd", meaning "to gnaw".

10. To pursue or to chase after (3 letters)

Answer: Canis lupus familiaris

Canis lupus familiaris - the domestic dog, a mammal of the family Canidae (dogs, jackals, coyotes, etc.) common worldwide. The verb "to dog", meaning to chase or pursue, comes from the use of the animal in hunting. The origin of the animal's name has attracted much speculation; there are many theories, but none sound intuitively appropriate.

Source: Author Southendboy

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Animal Words - Mammals Trivia Quiz

You're given the definition of a word that is also the name of a common mammal, and your task is to match the two. To make things a bit more challenging, the name of the mammal is in Latin! With one obvious exception, the species given is the UK one.

Questions		Choices
1. To pester or aggressively question somebody (6 letters)		Oryctolagus cuniculus
2. To talk incessantly and annoyingly (6 letters)		Meles meles
3. To trick or outwit somebody by cunning - or to discolour paper (3 letters)		Vulpes vulpes
4. An internal spy within an enemy intelligence agency (4 letters)		Canis lupus
5. To work hard (6 letters)		Rattus norvegicus
6. To eat (something) voraciously (4 letters)		Lepus europeaus
7. To search diligently or to uncover (6 letters)		Castor canadensis
8. To run very fast or wildly (4 letters)		Mustelo fura
9. To betray somebody (3 letters)		Canis lupus familiaris
10. To pursue or to chase after (3 letters)		Talpa europaea