Armadillo Outta Here! Trivia Quiz

Answer: armadillo

While species of the "little armoured one" (English translation of the Spanish name, armadillo) can be found all over South and Central America, they have been found as far north as Nebraska and Indiana in the United States.

The armadillo is a mammal whose species range in size from about 15cm long (the pink fairy armadillo) to 150cm long (the giant armadillo). The back, head, tail, and upper parts of the short limbs are covered with flexible overlapping scales to offer some protection from predators, but there is only one species (the South American three-banded armadillo) that relies on curling up into a ball for protection - most other armadillos either dig to escape, or else hide in thorny vegetation.

"The Beginning of the Armadillos" is one of Rudyard Kipling's "Just So Stories" which gives a humorous explanation of how armadillos came into existence.

The aardwolf is a member of the hyena family and is found in Southern and Eastern Africa; the Arctic skua is a bird found in the Northern Hemisphere; the aye-aye is a species of lemur found in Madagascar.

Answer: bandicoot

There are several species of bandicoot, all sharing the same basic characteristics of a long pointed nose and long thin tail. When first discovered they were thought to be a type of rodent because of their superficial resemblance to rats. Bandicoots are largely nocturnal and omnivorous, eating insects, fruit and seeds. Although they can be quite vocal, making a variety of little grunts, squeaks and hisses, they don't tend to crash about, preferring to remain in or near the shelter of undergrowth as they root about with their long noses and claws.

Baby bandicoots are known as joeys and, in common with other marsupial babies, are hairless and underdeveloped at birth. After birth, they live in the mother's pouch for about fifty days until they are weaned. The female bandicoot's pouch is unusual as it opens towards the rear end of the animal (other marsupials' pouches open forwards or upwards) - this is thought to be an adaptation to protect the joey when the mother is digging for food.

None of the incorrect answers is a marsupial. Buffalo can refer to several species of bovine quadruped, such as the African buffalo, the Asian water buffalo, and the North American bison; the beaver is a semi-aquatic rodent; the barnacle is a marine crustacean.

Answer: chinchilla

The chinchilla is a thick-furred rodent found in the Andes mountains of South America. The name derives from the indigenous Chincha people who used the fur for warm clothing - anyone who has ever had a pet chinchilla can tell you how dense and soft the fur is.

Wild chinchillas are social animals, living in groups called herds numbering up to one hundred which can offer them safety in numbers from predators. They usually give birth to one or two kits which, unlike many rodent babies, are born quite well-developed with their eyes open and a furry body.

The cassowary is a large flightless bird found in New Guinea, Indonesia, and Australia; crocodiles are reptiles; coyotes, although mammals, are native to North and Central America, and are not often kept as pets.

Answer: dusky shark

The dusky shark is a large, relatively fast-moving, migratory ocean-dwelling shark found worldwide - mainly in waters classed as tropical (bounded by the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn) and warm-temperate (warmer waters that are not tropical, e.g. southern U.S., North Africa, southern China).

It can grow up to about 4 metres long, produces live young, and is thought to have a natural lifespan of upwards of 40 years. Dusky sharks are part of the group known as requiem sharks, which includes bull sharks, blue sharks, and tiger sharks: although some of the members of this group are responsible for attacks on humans, the dusky shark is thought to be involved in very few.

The dormouse is a small rodent; "deer" is a general term describing mammals which are also hoofed ruminants of the order Cervidae; the dik-dik is a small antelope found in southern and eastern Africa.

Answer: eel

True eels are snake-like fish of the order Anguilliformes (Latin "anguilla" = a small snake), although other fish of similar appearance are also called eels (for example, the electric eel of South America). Most eels are found in salt water but some species, such as the European eel, spend most of their life in fresh water and only return to the sea to breed.

Although eels of many species are a valuable food resource, their blood is toxic to mammals: it contains a protein that can cause severe muscle cramps. That might not sound too serious until you consider that you are a mammal and your heart is primarily made of muscle. Fortunately, the toxic protein is denatured and made harmless by cooking.

None of the incorrect answers are found in fresh or salt water, although they may be found nearby: the elephant is a mammal; the eagle and the egret are birds.

Answer: fennec fox

The fennec fox is a small predator native to desert areas of North Africa, the Sinai peninsula, and southern Israel. Like many desert creatures it hides in a burrow or den during the day and emerges at dusk to hunt. It is sandy-coloured and has distinctively large pointed ears which are believed to have evolved to enable the animal to better hear the movements of smaller creatures under the surface of the sand.

As well as small desert rodents and lizards, the diet of the fennec fox includes insects, small birds, eggs and fruit. "Fennec" is the anglicisation of the animal's Arabic name, "fanak".

The frilled shark and the flatfish are not found in deserts; the ferret is an obligate carnivore and has small ears.

Answer: guppy

Guppies originated in and around the northern parts of South America, but are now found elsewhere in the world as a result of deliberate or accidental introduction. The deliberate introductions were usually an effort to control malarial mosquitoes, as guppies will eat mosquito larvae, but were not very successful in achieving that aim.

As an aquarium fish, the guppy is colourful, entertaining, and relatively easy to maintain. There are many different types, but the males frequently have patterned fan-like tails (another name for the guppy is the rainbowfish) that are large compared with their body size. Guppies are livebearers, and children in particular can find it interesting to watch their development from a couple of millimetres in length as fry to the elegant adult a few centimetres long.

Goose describes several species of bird; the gorilla is a mammal; goanna describes several species of predatory lizard found in Australia and Southeast Asia.

Answer: hummingbird

There are many species of hummingbird, mostly concentrated in the tropical and subtropical areas of the Americas but with a range from Alaska in the north to Tierra del Fuego in the south. As a group, they are generally very small and colourful, with the largest member (the giant hummingbird) being about 23cm long.

Although hummingbirds have long narrow bills and long tongues, adaptations which allow them to feed easily on the nectar of flowers, some also eat small insects. Their wing flexibility and rapid wing beats allow them to hover while feeding and to fly backwards: hummingbird species living at higher altitudes (e.g. in the Andes) tend to have relatively larger wings compared with those of lowland species, presumably to maintain hovering capability in the lower air density.

Hedgehogs are spiny mammals native to Europe, Asia, and Africa; the honey badger is a mammal of the weasel family; the herring is a fish.

Answer: ibis

Ibises are wading birds with long bills that curve downwards, and different species are found from the Americas to Australia, Europe, Asia and Africa. Most of them forage for food in shallow water, or along the edges of pools and rivers, but some species are more terrestrial in habit. They prey on a variety of small amphibians, reptiles, crustaceans, invertebrates and some vegetable matter.

Perhaps the most well-known of the ibises is the African sacred ibis, associated with the ancient Egyptian god Thoth who is depicted with an ibis head. The most colourful is the scarlet ibis, which is found extensively in South America, particularly in the northwestern coastal wetland areas, marshes, mudflats, and around the southern Caribbean islands.

The indri (mammal) is a species of lemur; the impala (mammal) is an antelope; the iguana (reptile) is a lizard.

Answer: jellyfish

Jellyfish are generally marine invertebrates whose umbrella-shaped adult forms may be found all around the world - even in the Arctic and Antarctic - and from the surface waters to depths of thousands of metres. Most are free-swimming and have trailing contractile tentacles covered in "stinging cells", with which they catch their prey; depending on the species and size of the jellyfish, this can be anything from microplankton to small fish, crustaceans, and other jellyfish.

The stinging cells, or nematocysts, generally work by a trigger mechanism which injects venom when prey brush against the cell. The venom of most species is not toxic to humans, but some, including the notorious sea wasp (a box jellyfish) produce venom that is strong enough to be fatal. There are many species of jellyfish whose stings can be irritating or painful, and some of these may trigger an allergic reaction on subsequent exposures.

There are some freshwater species, such as the peach blossom jellyfish which is native to China but has now spread to many other countries.

Jellyfish, frequently sold dried, may be found in many Far Eastern food markets.

The jackdaw is a bird of the crow family; the jaguarundi is a wild cat found in Central and South America; jackals are wild members of the Canid family, and are found in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.