Do You Wanna See Something Really Scary? Quiz

Answer: Gharial

The gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) is the last of the Gavialidae, and is very close itself to being extinct in the wild. Both the Yacare caiman (Caiman yacare) and the black caiman (Melanosuchus niger) are species of Crocodylia native to South America, and the slender-snouted crocodile (Crocodylus cataphractus) is native to Africa.

Answer: Stingray

The most noticeable difference between the two is that the stingray has a sting (barbed, venomous tail) while the manta ray does not, but the stingray is also typically smaller than the manta ray.

There are two species of manta ray currently known: the reef manta ray (Manta alfredi), which is the smaller of the two, and the giant oceanic manta ray (M. birostris) shown here.

Answer: Clay spider

Solifugae are known variously as camel spiders, sun spiders and wind scorpions. They are closely related to both spiders and scorpions, all three orders being of the class Arachnidae. Unlike their cousins, Solifugae are non-venomous, so they really aren't very dangerous to people, as bizarre as they look.

They do have very strong mandibles, however, so a bite from one would not be very pleasant even if it isn't lethal.

Answer: Aye-aye

Aye-ayes are the largest nocturnal primates in the world. Their long, slender fingers are ideal for pulling insect larvae from trees, but they also feed on nuts and fruits. They are not at all dangerous to humans, although there are many superstitions about them.

It probably doesn't help that in Roman mythology, lemurs, which these animals are named for, were evil spirits of the dead. The incorrect answers are all types of lemurs as well.

Answer: Africa

The common name for A. gigas is the giant African millipede. Millipedes prefer the dark and can often be found under rotting logs or buried in the ground. The millipede's main defence against predators is its hard exoskeleton, but A. gigas also secretes a noxious substance that can cause allergic reactions of varying severity in humans.

In Canada, a person requires a permit from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to keep certain tropical millipedes as pets.

Answer: Basking shark

The basking shark's binomial name is Cetorhinus maximus, which means, roughly, "large, nosed marine monster"; the megamouth shark (which, looking at this picture, would be an apt name, indeed!) is actually a different species, Megachasma pelagios. The basking shark, megamouth shark and whale shark (Rhincodon typus) are the three shark species which eat plankton.

Answer: Coral snake

The main difference in colouration between coral snakes and kingsnakes is the order of the stripes. A common saying, to distinguish between the two, goes: "Red on yellow will kill a fellow; red on black is friend of Jack" (with several variations).

Coral snakes, death adders, mambas and cobras all belong to the Elapidae family of venomous snakes.

Answer: Sight

New World vultures are able to locate carcasses by smell, but Old World vultures are not highly developed in that sense and must locate their food entirely by sight. Hearing is not particularly useful to scavengers, as their 'prey' don't tend to make a lot of noise!

Answer: Goliath

Theraphosa blondi is commonly known as the goliath birdeater spider and can be found in the rainforests of South America. By legspan, T. blondi is the second largest spider in the world, after the giant huntsman spider (Heteropoda maxima).

In 2011 T. blondi defended its "Guinness World Records" title as the largest spider by mass against a challenger, the Hercules baboon spider (Hysterocrates hercules) of Nigeria.

Answer: Sanguivore

Carnivore is a term applied to any species that subsists on a diet of animal tissue, but there are also terms for carnivores with specialized diets: sanguivores consume blood, and piscivores eat fish. Phytisuccivores and graminivores are types of herbivores, with diets of sap and grasses, respectively.