Out of Africa Trivia Quiz

Answer: Firefinches

Firefinches are endemic to most regions of sub-Saharan Africa and are generally small birds with a mix of bright red, brown and black plumage. The red-billed firefinch is one of the most common species and despite also being known as the Senegal firefinch, it can be found across western, eastern and southern Africa.

There are 11 species of firefinch in total, the others not mentioned in the question being the African, bar-breasted, black-bellied, brown, Jameson's and Landana.

Answer: Lemur

Due to their isolated location compared to mainland African primates, lemurs evolved separately and, as result, there are about 100 different species of lemur endemic to Madagascar. Many of these are now classified as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered, mainly due to habitat destruction from human activity. The majority of larger lemur species are diurnal, but most smaller lemurs have a long tail, pointed face and the large eyes that are essential for a mostly nocturnal creature.

Tenrecs are small mammals whose diverse species resemble mice, shrews and hedgehogs; antsangys are rat-like rodents; and falanoucs resemble mongooses.

Answer: Aardvark

The name aardvark is derived from the Afrikaans for "earth pig", but it is not a member of the pig family. It is also known colloquially as an anteater because of its diet of ants and termites. It has a distinctive long snout and an extremely long tongue, which it uses to extract its prey from their nests. It is also a member of the afrotheria clade of species descended from the same common ancestor, making it a very distant relative of the elephant.

The incorrect options all have names derived from Afrikaans or Dutch. The springbok and duiker are both antelopes, while the rinkhal is also known as the ring-necked spitting cobra.

Answer: Mount Kahuzi climbing mouse

Mount Kahuzi is the highest peak in the Mitumba mountain range and an extinct volanco. It is located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, close to its eastern border with Rwanda. It is also home to the extremely rare Mount Kahuzi climbing mouse, which - like other African climbing mice - is three-toed and has a semi-prehensile tail to help it climb trees. Little is known about this particular species as very few specimens have ever been found.

None of the incorrect options is endemic to a single country. The barbary striped grass mouse is found in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia; the pleasant gerbil mainly lives in Egypt and Libya; and the Namaqua dune mole-rat comes from Namibia and South Africa.

Answer: Impala

The impala, Aepyceros melampus, is found around the woodlands of eastern and southern Africa and is noted for the distinctive way it leaps to avoid or confuse predators. One approach it uses is leaping up to three metres (10 feet) into the air, while the other is a complex series of lower jumps while kicking out with its hind legs.

The incorrect options are all species of antelope - the bongo is also a type of van produced by both Kia and Mazda; the Singer Gazelle was a British car produced between 1956 and 1970; and Lotus make a sports car called an Elan...

Answer: Nile crocodile

The Nile crocodile is the largest species of crocodile native to Africa, but it is smaller than the saltwater crocodile of south-east Asia and northern Australia. On average, male Nile crocodiles grow to around 3.5 to 5 metres (11.5 to 16 feet) in length and are one of the most dangerous animal species to humans, with hundreds of deaths attributed to attacks by these reptiles each year. As its name suggests, it can be found in the River Nile but it also lives in other rivers as well as freshwater lakes and marshes.

Also as the name suggests, the dwarf crocodile is the smallest of all crocodile species and rarely grows longer than around 1.5 metres (5 feet).

Answer: Giraffe

The listed creatures are the nine traditional sub-species of giraffe, although various 21st century research studies have attempted to classify some of these into differing numbers of separate species. They all have the distinctive height, long neck and patterned coat that characterises the giraffe, but tend to be found in different areas of Africa albeit with some overlapping of their ranges.

For example, Kenya is home to Nubian giraffe, Rothschild's giraffe, reticulated giraffe and Masai giraffe.

Answer: Ostriches

Ostriches are the largest living species of bird in the world and are the only members of the Struthionidae family. Two different subspecies have been identified - the common ostrich (which oddly enough is the most numerous) and the Somali ostrich. While ostriches are flightless, they are capable of running at 30 to 40 miles per hour (50 to 65 kilometres per hour) and can kill large mammals by kicking them with their sharp-clawed feet.

However, contrary to popular belief, they are not known for standing around with their heads buried in the sand!

Answer: Shoebill

The most distinctive feature of the shoebill is its massive beak that is somewhat shoe-shaped and gives the bird its name. In the wild they live in the tropical freshwater swamps of eastern Africa and spend quite a lot of their time standing as still as a statue. They generally eat fish (particularly species of lungfish and tilapia) but will also consume other aquatic creatures such as frogs, snakes and even baby crocodiles!

The waxbill is a small songbird, the secretary bird is a raptor, and trogons are brightly-coloured tropical passerine birds that are closely related to quetzals.

Answer: Flamingos

Flamingos can generally be instantly recognised by their striking pink plumage and the fact that they are often seen standing around on one leg. Two of the world's six known species of flamingo can be found in Africa - the greater flamingo and the lesser flamingo. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the greater flamingo is the largest of all flamingo species and can be found by the continent's coastline, on mudflats and in other areas with shallow water. To see lesser flamingos you would need to travel inland, to areas such as the Great Rift Valley and parts of Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.