If You Go Down to the Woods Today... Quiz

Answer: Saltwater crocodile

The three heaviest living reptiles (and eight of the top ten) are all species of crocodile; the saltwater crocodile tops the pile with an average weight of 990 pounds. The heaviest saltwater croc ever caught weighed an amazing 4,400 pounds -- that is more than twice the weight of a Renault Clio!

The Nile crocodile and the Orinoco crocodile collect the minor medals at 900 pounds and 840 pounds respectively. The heaviest non-crocodile is the leatherback sea turtle at 800 pounds. The only other non-crocodile in the top ten, at number eight, is the American alligator (average weight, 530 pounds). The Galapagos tortoise comes in at number 15 with a average weight of 'only' 390 pounds -- still heavier than the average NFL defensive lineman.

The heaviest reptile ever to roam the earth (and the heaviest of all land animals) was a Sauropoda, a family of long-necked plant-eaters, with the largest of those being the 'Argentinosaurus huinculensis' which averaged somewhere between 50-90 tonnes!

Answer: Lizard

All 37 known African species of agama are small, long-tailed lizards. The smallest species grow to around five inches in length and the longest to around one foot. Mostly insect-eaters, although they will also eat some grass, berries and fruit, agamas can be found in forests and bush as well as in the desert, and many have now adapted to live in the walls and thatched roofs of human habitats. If caught in the open, agamas can often be seen scurrying upright on their hind legs to find shelter.

The best-known species is the common agama, also called a rainbow agama.

Answer: Birds

These are all birds.

There are more than 80 species of barbet ranging across Asia, Africa and the Americas. They are close cousins of the toucan. Just to confuse you, there is also a medium-sized French water dog called a barbet.

There are 30 species of piculet, 27 of which are native to South America. They are part of the woodpecker family.

There are five species of koel that are native to the Pacific region from Asia to Australia. They are part of the cuckoo family.

Trogons are found through the world's tropical regions. They belong to the same family as the quetzal.

The limpkin, also called a courian or crying bird, is an American shorebird related to rails and cranes.

Answer: Rabbit

Unlike its close cousins, the rabbits (and hares), all 30 species of pika lack a tail but have rounded ears and short limbs. They are often called "coneys" in the U.S., although that term is often also sometimes erroneously applied to rabbits, hares and hyraxes.

Pikas are found mostly on rocky mountain slopes in Asia, Eastern Europe and North America. They are essentially herbivores, although some pika species are known to store dead birds when stocking their winter larder.

Answer: Cat

These are all members of the 'Leopardus' genus of small, spotted cats.

The colocolo is native to the Andean slopes of northern and central Chile. It may be spotted or striped and is closely related to the Pampas cat.

Also called a 'guina', the kodkod is the smallest cat native to South America. Classified as 'Vulnerable', with les than 10,000 individuals remaining in the wild, it is confined to a small region in southern Chile.

Also called the little spotted cat, the tigrillo or the tiger cat, the oncilla is endemic to the rainforests of South and Central America. Recognizable from its ochre coat spotted with black rosettes, it is a close relative of the ocelot.

Classified as 'Near Threatened', the margay was regularly hunted for the illegal wildlife trade until the 1990s. Solitary and nocturnal, it is found primarily in heavily forested areas.

Answer: Madagascar

Like their close relatives, the Malagasy civet and various species of mongoose, both the fossa and the falanouc are endemic to Madagascar.

The rare falanouc lives mostly on a diet of worms, slugs, snails and larvae. It has non-retractable claws and a unique dental arrangement with its canines and pre-molars both flat and backwards-curving. Solitary and territorial, it lives in the lowland rainforests of Madagascar. It is classified as 'Near Threatened' due to habitat loss and hunting by both humans and dogs.

The fossa could easily be mistaken for a large cat: Madagascar's largest mammalian carnivore, it is sometimes likened to a small cougar. Found only in the island's forested regions, the fossa's diet includes rodents, lizards and birds but more than 50% of its prey is Madagascar's most famous native, the lemur.

Answer: India

The Western Ghats range runs parallel to the west coast of India, from just south of Mumbai almost to the southern tip of the sub-continent.

All but three of the 19 endemic species of mammal living here are classified as threatened (or worse). Twenty more non-endemic threatened species also call the Ghats home. Amongst the rare endemic creatures are the lion-tailed macaque, an arboreal species with only 2,500 surviving individuals on the planet. Of the better-known species, more than 10% of India's highly endangered tigers live in this mountain range.

In excess of 80% of the 180 species of amphibians living here are found nowhere else on Earth. The purple frog, a living fossil estimated to be more than 130 million years old, was discovered here only in 2003. More than a third of the 300 species of freshwater fish living in these mountains are found nowhere else: amongst these are more than 100 species of loach and 30 species of catfish. Here can be found many of the world's most spectacular coloured ornamental fish.

Answer: Italy

Also sometimes called the Apennine brown bear, the Marsican brown bear is Italy's most endangered endemic mammal species. Although 90% of their diet consists of roots, tubers, fruits and berries, brown bears will eat just about anything and local farmers often see them as a threat to their livestock, hence poaching and poisoning has virtually decimated the natural population.

Founded in 1922, Abruzzo National Park (recently renamed 'Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise ["National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise"]) is the oldest national park in the Apennine mountains. With an area of 191 square miles, the park is more than seven times the size of the Italian exclave of San Marino. Other native species found here include the Italian wolf and the Abruzzo chamois.

Answer: Insect

Sometimes called lacewings, antlions are a family of insects. Although they superficially resemble dragonflies, the two are not closely related (other than both being winged insects). Antlions are sometimes called doodlebugs in the US because the trail left whilst searching for a place to build their traps looks as if someone has doodled in the sand.

Usually found in arid, sandy areas, antlions can be fairly small (with a wingspan of around one inch) to much larger (wingspans of six inches). Antlion larvae survive mostly on a diet of ants, whilst adults eat anything from pollen and nectar to small arthropods.

Answer: Primates

All of these are members of the sub-order of Primates called 'Strepsirrhini', which also includes lemurs and lorises.

Sifakas are a genus of nine species closely related to the lemur and also endemic to Madagascar. Skillful climbers and powerful jumpers, they almost always maintain a vertical position whilst moving (walking) along tree branches or leaping from tree to tree.

Galagos are also known as bushbabies or nagapies (which means "little night monkeys" in Afrikaans). Native to continental Africa, their closest relatives are the various species of loris from Asia. In terms both of variety (there are more than 20 species) and of sheer numbers of individuals, galagos are the most successful of Africa's primitive primates.

Also called golden pottos, there are two species of angwantibo living in the tropical rainforests of West Africa. Also related to the loris, they have very short tails, prominent snouts and round ears, which is why they are known in German as 'Bärenmaki' (meaning "bear lemur").