Eyes on Africa Trivia Quiz

Answer: Baboon

Belonging to the genus Papio, there are five species of baboon currently recognised. Another anatomical feature is the ischial callosities - nerveless and hairless pads of skins on the buttocks which provide a comfortable seat for the animal.

Answer: Aardvark

The name comes from the Afrikaans language and translates as earth or ground pig, although it is not a member of the pig family. Its diet consists primarily of ants and termites although it has a symbiotic relationship with the aardvark cucumber (Cucumis humifructus). The cucumber fruits underground and relies on the aardvark to unearth it, eat it and hence distribute its seeds. The fruit supplies the aardvark with moisture in return.

The other animals are native to Australia and also, in the case of the echidna and quoll, New Guinea.

Answer: Hyena

Of the animals listed, only the hyena is feliform, or cat-like, in its evolutionary history. The others are caniform, or 'dog-like', carnivorans. The distinction between the two forms is best found in the skull. Despite a different lineage, the hyena has many 'dog-like' features and behaviours.

Answer: Leopard

The leopard is one of the five 'big cats' and has the ability to roar. As well as in Africa, it can be found in parts of Asia. It is an opportunistic hunter with its spots endowing it with an effective camouflage. Its spots are larger than those on the jaguar, which is found in the Americas, however the black versions of both (caused by melanin) are known as black panthers.

Answer: Warthog

A member of the pig family, it is distinguished by two sets of upward-curving tusks. As their name suggests, their head typically features large wart-like protective pads on its head. It sleeps in burrows, preferably those dug by aardvarks. It is the only pig to live in savannahs and can survive in waterless areas for several months.

The others are found in the Americas (peccary and tapir) and Indonesia (babirusa).

Answer: Kudu

Most antelope are native to Africa and are even-toed ungulates. Odd-toed ungulates include the horse. The white oryx (or Arabian oryx) is from the Arabian peninsula and India is home to the nilgai and chinkara.

Bokdroel Spoeg (which translates from the Afrikaans as kudu dung-spitting) is a sport practised in South Africa. The world record distance achieved in 2006 was just over 15 metres. The measurement is to where the dung finally rolls to a stop rather than where it hits the ground.

Answer: Mandrill

There are two main families of monkey: Old World (which are found in Africa and Asia) and New World (found in Central and South America). The mandrill is the only Old World monkey listed. The males are quite colourful, typically having areas of black, blue, green, grey, red, white and yellow fur.

Answer: Bat-eared fox

The ears are used by the foxes to locate their insect prey (mostly harvester termites) as well as to help in temperature regulation. Hunting is mostly done at night.

The other fox species listed come from South America (crab-eating fox and culpeo) and North America (swift fox).

Answer: Hyrax

More closely linked evolutionarily to elephants than most animals, hyrax family members were the main African herbivores for millions of years. They were eventually displaced by bovids such as antelope, sheep and cattle.

A link between the various animals listed as answers is that they have been all called coneys. The graysby is a type of grouper, a fish.

Answer: Bongo

The bongo is the largest African forest dwelling antelope. It is found in tropical jungle habitats in three isolated regions of Africa. Pressures from habitat loss and hunting continue to threaten the bongo's survival.

Of the other animals listed, the vicuņa is a South American camelid and the Markhor is a wild goat found areas such as Afghanistan and Pakistan. The nyala is an African antelope found in dry savannah woodlands in southern Africa.

The percussive hint is a reference to the bongo drum, which emerged from Cuba but is said by some to have African roots. The drum appears to have no other connection to the antelope.