Learning About Animals Quiz | Animals

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Class: Literature Zoe read Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" for class, in which a certain librarian was turned into an ape. If you were turned into an ape, which of these species could you be? And no, your name won't have to be Clyde.

Answer: Orangutan

All the choices are primates, but the only ape in the bunch is the orangutan. Clyde is the name of the orangutan in the Clint Eastwood movie "Every Which Way But Loose". Mandrills and baboons are technically monkeys, not apes, and lemurs are a completely separate group of primates that developed in isolation in Madagascar.

In the "Discworld" novel series, although he was offered an alternative, the Librarian (assumed to be previously a wizard) decided to remain in ape shape as he found the physical attributes more handy in retrieving books from high shelves than in human form. Whatever you do, don't refer to him as a "monkey". OOOOK!

2. Class: Biology Perhaps unsurprisingly, animals are all over biology class. But there are surprising facts about animals afoot. While we often think of animals as animate, some animals are actually often quite still. In fact, all but one of the following immobile items are "sessile," or nonmoving, animals. Which is the non-animal of the bunch?

Answer: Molds

Molds are fungi, and not in the animal kingdom. The others are the crown jewels of the "sessile" community - sponges are in the phylum "Porifera", corals are in phylum "Cnidaria", a grouping that includes jellyfish as well, and barnacles are arthropods.

3. Class: Cultures Superstitions and traditions can often involve animals. Which bird culturally associated with babies and childbirth has a real habit of nesting in abandoned chimneys?

Answer: Stork

The legend that storks deliver babies seems to be connected to the belief in many ancient cultures that a stork nesting in your chimney brought good luck. In Roman times, storks were associated with Venus. It is also thought that storks' migratory patterns contributed to the belief; they appeared in Europe in late March and April, and more children tended to be born in those months in medieval times. Hans Christian Anderson wrote a short story, "The Storks," that helped to spread the myth. Even today, it is common for parents to tell young children that they were brought by a stork. Storks often nest on rooftops and abandoned chimneys, and are noted for the care they lavish on their young.

4. Class: Performing Arts In "Swan Lake," there are two women-turned-swans competing for the love of the young Prince Siegfried. It seems like lots of characters turn into animals! If you turned into a swan, which genus would you now be?

Answer: Cygnus

Cygnus is the genus of swan, and the word has a similar derivation as "cygnet," the word for baby swan. There are several mythological characters named Cygnus who all also turned into swans, besides our "Swan Lake" characters Odette and Odile. Orthonyx are "logrunner" birds native to Australia, Pipra are the "manakin" birds, and Sasia is the genus for "piculets".

5. Class: Psychology Psychology is not limited to humanity, and there are many techniques for self-preservation in the animal kingdom that seem, bizarrely, to have psychological implications! One such belongs to the "killdeer". The killdeer is a small bird of the plover family. It builds its nest on the ground, and has developed what technique to protect its nest from predators?

Answer: Pretends to have a broken wing

The killdeer gets its name from its high-pitched call, which sounds like "kill-deer." Although they are sometimes considered shore birds, they are often found far from the water. If a predator approaches the nest, the killdeer will pretend to have a broken wing and utter distress calls to distract the predator.

It will drag its "broken wing" along the ground, and lead the predator away from the nest. When it is far enough away, it will suddenly take to flight. Although it can fly, the killdeer spends most of its time running around on the ground.

It has little fear of humans, and will often build its nests near houses or other buildings. Because the mortality rate among killdeer chicks is quite high, nesting couples often raise two broods of chicks in a season.

6. Class: Geography Geography often dictates which animals are present - in fact, North America has only one native marsupial, famous for playing dead when threatened. Which marsupial is this?

Answer: Opossum

The Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) is the only marsupial found in North America. It is omnivorous and adopts well to urban life. It often scavenges for food in garbage cans, and is generally regarded as a pest. When threatened, an opossum may go into a comatose state that mimics death. "Playing possum," has entered American English as a phrase meaning pretending to be dead or insensitive, with a motive to deceive. Opossums were once a favorite game animal in the American South.

The popular sitcom, "The Beverly Hillbillies," made numerous references to opossums being used as food.

7. Class: Environmental Science The interaction between people and their animal brethren is notoriously fraught. Some animals have learned to defend against humanity - what common North American bird is known for its feline-like call and the vigorous defense of its nest, which often includes swooping down and attacking people who get too close?

Answer: Gray catbird

The gray catbird is a member of the Mimid family, and is related to thrashers and mockingbirds. Its call resembles a cat's "meow." It can also mimic other birds' calls. Catbirds are notorious for swooping down on people who get too close to their nests; they show little fear of predators, and will attack anything that gets too near their nesting site. Catbirds are one of the few birds that seem to recognize when their nests have been parasitized by cowbirds, and either destroy the cowbird eggs or push them out of the nest.

8. Class: Nutrition Humans and animals have very different dietary needs, as we will soon find out! Which animal has such a high metabolic rate that it must eat two to three times its own body rate each day in order to survive?

Answer: Common shrew

The common shrew is found throughout northern Europe. Its diet consists mainly of insects, spiders, slugs and worms, although it will also eat small animals. A shrew must eat two to three times its own body weight every day in order to survive; a shrew can starve to death in as little as five hours if it does not feed.

The scientific name for the common shrew is Sorex araneus; araneus is Latin for "spider," and reflects the fact that shrews were once considered to be poisonous.

9. Class: Ecology The relationship between animals and their environment is interesting in itself, whether it involves humans or not, and is very worth studying. In fact, a 2013 study by the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute concluded that the biggest threat to bird populations was what?

Answer: Feral & domestic cats

The study estimated that cats kill an estimated 3.7 billion birds each year in the United States, as well as 20 billion mice, voles and other small mammals. Cats also hunt and kill many small reptiles and snakes. The study concluded that "cats are likely the single greatest source of anthropogenic [man-made] mortality for US birds and mammals."

10. Class: Orienteering and Survivalism Let's say you wanted to go out into the wilderness and take your chances. This class may help you, by teaching you the answer to this critical question - which of the following animals is LEAST likely to kill and eat you?

Answer: Grizzly bear

The subject of which animal kills and eats the most people each year is subject to debate, but there is general agreement that hundreds of people are killed and eaten by tigers, lions and crocodiles each year. Hippos probably kill more people than any of these, but being herbivorous, they would probably spit you out instead of eating you. Attacks by bears on people, on the other hand, are relatively rare.

In the entire decade from 2000 through 2009, there were less than thirty fatal bear attacks in all of North America, by all species of bears. So if you are ever eaten by a grizzly bear, you will know you are in select company.

Source: Author merylfederman

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Tizzabelle before going online.
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Learning About Animals Trivia Quiz

Zoe's time at university was surprisingly filled with animals - in every subject! Answer these questions posed to Zoe, who clearly cannot avoid the critters no matter which class she takes!

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