Definition not Derivation - Animal Adjectives Quiz

Answer: Myrmecophagine

Anteater is a general name given to four different species of animal - the giant anteater, silky anteater, northern tamandua and southern tamandua, all of which are found in the Americas. Anteaters were once believed to be closely related to aardvarks and pangolins, which share similar characteristics.

However, these similarities are now thought to be a result of convergent evolution rather than the sharing of a common ancestor.

Answer: Pteropine

Bats are the only type of mammal to be capable of true and sustained flight; they have extended digits on their forelimbs which are connected by a thin membrane that forms a wing. Bats are subdivided into two groups known as "megabats" and "microbats", the former being primarily fruit-eaters with large eyes and relatively small ears, while the latter have large ears that are used for echolocation to find prey.

Answer: Ursine

There are eight living species of bear, which can be found across the globe. Two of these have specific diets, with the polar bear being primarily carnivorous and the giant panda's diet consisting almost exclusively of bamboo. The other six species are largely omnivorous, and will consume most food types including leaves and roots, fruits, insects, fish, as well as fresh meat and carrion.

Answer: Delphine

Dolphins are divided into two major groups - oceanic dolphins, which live at sea, and river dolphins that live in freshwater areas. Dolphins are capable of making a range of different sounds, with three primary types identified - frequency modulated whistles (produced in a similar way to sounds made by human vocal cords), burst-pulse sounds (the nature of which is unknown) and clicks.

The first two types are used for communication, while the clicks are part of the dolphin's echolocation system.

Answer: Musteline

The ferret is the domesticated form of the European polecat, a small mammal related to the weasel. The ferret is primarily crepuscular, meaning that it is active mainly at dawn and dusk, and will sleep for between 14 and 18 hours a day. If excited, ferrets will engage in a behaviour called the "weasel war dance", which is characterised by frenzied sideways hops, leaps and bumping into nearby objects.

Despite its name however, the weasel war dance is an invitation to play, and is often accompanied by a unique soft clucking noise, commonly referred to as "dooking".

Answer: Vulpine

The word "vulpine" comes from the genus vulpes, which is the group that is referred to as "true foxes", and includes twelve separate species. True foxes can be distinguished from other members of the family canidae (which also includes dogs, wolves, coyotes and jackals) by their smaller size, flatter skull, black triangular markings between their eyes and nose, and the tip of their tail being a different colour to the rest of their pelt.

Answer: Hystricine

There are two separate families of porcupine - Old World porcupines live in southern Europe, southern and western Asia and parts of Africa, and are large, terrestrial and nocturnal, while New World porcupines inhabit North America and northern South America, can climb trees and are less exclusively nocturnal.

Although porcupines have similar spiny protection, they are unrelated to either hedgehogs or echidnas.

Answer: Procyonine

There are three different species of raccoon, of which two (the crab-eating raccoon and the Cozumel raccoon) are native to the tropics. The third, known as the common raccoon, has a much wider distribution, being native from southern Canada to the Isthmus of Panama, as well as having been introduced to both mainland Europe and the Japanese islands.

The adaptability of the common raccoon has seen it spread from its original forest habitats to a range of other areas, including mountainous, coastal and even urban areas.

Answer: Phocine

True seals, also known as earless seals, are distinct from other pinnipeds in being unable to rotate their rear flippers forward, and can only move on land by wriggling using their front flippers and pectoral muscles. There are eighteen species of true seal, with the biggest of these being the southern elephant seal. Bull elephant seals can weigh up to 4,000 kg and grow to 5.8 metres in length, making them the largest living carnivore.

Answer: Lupine

The grey wolf is classed as an apex predator, having no natural predators of their own. Unlike many other apex predators, the grey wolf is a social animal, living in family groups of typically 5-11 individuals consisting of a mating pair and their offspring. Occasionally, more than one family group will make up a wolf pack. Wolves are highly territorial, and will rarely move outside of their marked territory unless food is scarce. Territories are marked using a combination of scent-marking and vocalisation in the form of howling.

Despite the popular belief that wolves howl at the Moon, it is thought that this howling is merely a form of communication with each other.