Animal Diaries Pt.2 Trivia Quiz

Answer: The summer flounder

When born, flounder (and most other flatfish) look less like their parents and more like the fish you will find nearer the surface of the water. Indeed, flounders are actually born near the surface of the water, but begin to gradually sink until they reach the ocean floor, where they will spend the remainder of their life (apart from a return visit when it comes to laying/fertilising their own eggs).

Whilst on their journey downwards, one eye will move upwards and eventually across to the other side of their face.

These young fish will also begin swimming on their side and will develop dark and dotted pigmentation, but only on their upper side.

Answer: The lesser white-toothed shrew

This habit is known is "caravanning", and is done by the tiny mother (around 2.5 inches long) to protect her young from disturbances.

These small mammals can be found in Europe, North Africa and on the islands of Japan. They are the smallest species of white-toothed shrews, which are distinguished from their red-toothed cousins in that they do not have the same extent of iron deposition on their teeth.

Answer: The hoatzin

There has been much debate as to the evolutionary links of the hoatzin to other birds, and of its possible link to Archaeopteryx, which is traditionally seen as the bridge of the gap between reptiles and birds.

These wing claws are used by the hoatzin chicks to climb through trees, or back up onto branches after throwing themselves out into water (which they will often do if in danger). The hoatzin is a clumsy flyer and is also known as the stinkbird due to the gases it emits as a result of its leaf-based diet.

Answer: The jawfish

After a brief courtship ritual, the female jawfish will lay her eggs and leave. The father, however, stays after he fertilises the eggs and uses his huge mouth to scoop up the eggs. The eggs will remain in the father's mouth for up to ten days and will receive oxygen from the water taken in by him. Upon leaving their father's mouth, young jawfish are completely independent.

When not being used as a nursery, the impressive mouth of the jawfish is used to dig homes, catch prey, and scare off predators.

Answer: The Northern river otter

Otters of all types are noted for their unusual habit of still "playing" when they reach adulthood. In many species, in particular with mammals, play is used as a way of establishing social links with other members of the species, or learning vital skills such as hunting.

The Northern river otter has been observed tobogganing and playing Follow the Leader well into its adult years. Though adult otter play is thought to be a way of improving skills such as hunting, some have theorised that this behaviour has been adopted by these intelligent creatures due to boredom.

Answer: The Macaroni penguin

Macaroni penguins live in huge numbers around the edge of the Antarctic Circle, and gather in astonishing numbers to breed. The main reason for this seems to be a lack of suitable space to breed, rather than a desire to be near one another, as Macaronis are often very aggressive to one another. In fact, Macaronis are said to be the noisiest and most aggressive of all penguin species.

The female Macaroni penguin usually lays two eggs and, almost always, the first is smaller and darker and is abandoned. This is thought to be done so that attention can be focussed on the larger, remaining egg.

Answer: The hooded seal

The milk of the hooded seal is usually around 50-60% fat, but can be as high as 70%. This is even more surprising when compared with that of the giant fin whale, which only produces milk of around 30% fat, and human milk, which is 4.5% fat.

The fat content of a mammal's milk is directly proportional to the lactation period, so it is no coincidence that the hooded seal has both the shortest lactation period and the milk which is highest in fat. If hooded seal pups did not gain so much weight (mostly in the form of blubber), they would quickly freeze to death in the Arctic conditions in which they live.

Answer: The spot-billed pelican

The reproduction of a pelican can in some ways seem very cruel, as these large birds almost always lay three (sometimes two, sometimes four) eggs and only one hatchling usually survives. Although both parents will provide food for the nest, the hunger of the chicks remains unsatisfied and the two largest will gang up on the smallest, before turning on each other.

The chicks which fall from the nest will no longer receive food from the parents and so will starve to death.

Answer: The Andean shrew opossum

The Andean shrew opossum, like all shrew opossums, are unique in that they are marsupials which do not possess pouches. There are a few other examples of marsupials outside of the order Paucituberculata (shrew opossums) which lack a pouch, such as the short-tailed opossum.

Listed above, the water opossum is the only marsupial where a pouch is present in both males and females.

As "marsupial" is derived from a word meaning "pouch", it seems curious that shrew opossums can still be included in this infraclass of mammals. However, marsupials are characterised as giving birth to very underdeveloped (almost embryonic) young, which stay attached to the teat of the mother until they are more fully developed - a quality which these shrew opossums still possess.

Answer: The Christmas Island red crab

The vast majority of the world's population of these crabs exists on Christmas Island, and almost all females choose the same time each year to release their eggs into the sea. With each female carrying hundreds of thousands of eggs, and over one hundred million individuals depositing their eggs, the clear sea is immediately turned black.

Christmas Island red crabs naturally live on land and usually only enter the water to deposit their eggs. This is a risky business, however, as the eggs must be deposited during a high tide, so the crabs, which are poor swimmers, are often swept away and killed.