Random Animals? Could Be... Trivia Quiz

Answer: giraffe

Okapis are in the same family as giraffes, the largest ruminants and tallest land aminals on earth. In fact, an okapi looks rather like a short-necked giraffe that, instead of spots, has solid chocolate-to-reddish-brown fur all over, except for striking white stripes on its legs and rump. (It also has shorter legs and a smaller body.) Whereas both sexes of giraffe have ossicones (horny projections), only the male okapis have these. Only females, however, have hair whorls. Both okapis and giraffes have a similar gait; most ungulates are trotters (moving left front leg and right rear leg, then right front leg and left rear leg, etc.), but giraffes and okapis are pacers (moving right front and rear leg, then left front and rear leg, and so on). Like the giraffe, the okapi has a long black tongue for plucking leaves, though the okapi's is even longer. Okapis are diurnal and, compared to giraffes, have a much more limited range, restricted to the northeastern portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire). Giraffes have a fragmented range throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

Answer: cheetah

Cheetahs are distinguished from the other big cats by the mesmerizing black markings which run from the inner corner of the eye to the mouth. According to legend, a cheetah cried for months for her missing cubs, and her tears formed two permanent tear marks. These "tear marks" are believed to be an adaptation to the blazing sun of the African savanna, as cheetahs are diurnal hunters. The black lines prevent them from being blinded when they are chasing prey at 120 kilometers per hour! Cheetahs also have evenly spread simple spots, oval or round in shape, while jaguars have large rosettes with a central spot. Leopards also have rosettes but smaller and rounder than a jaguar's. The jaguar of the South American jungle is also much stockier and heavier than the lean, gracile cheetah.

The fossa appears catlike but it's not a feline but rather a mustelid (a relative of the mongoose), and it has no spots besides. The coyote is a canine.

Answer: opossum

The nocturnal, docile opossum dwells mostly in trees and has thick fur, a longish snout, and a long, naked, prehensile tail by which it hangs from branches. Over 120 species of opossum range the length of South America all the way up though North America. There is only one species north of Mexico, however, and that's the Virginia opossum, which is known for feigning death when facing threat or harm. It will even smell like death. It's called "playing 'possum", but it's actually an involuntary response, and the animal has no control over how long it will remain unconscious. They were once thought to be solitary creatures, but in the 21st century it was observed that they are rather sociable. They also slow the spread of Lyme disease by consuming the ticks that attach to them; one opossum can eat 5000 ticks per season!

The kangaroo, the wallaby, and the quoll (a cat-like, spotted carnivore), all live in Australia. Don't confuse the American opossums, sometimes colloquially contracted to 'possums, with the possums of Australasia! They are both marsupials and have superficial similarities -- and in fact the Aussie animals were named for their resemblance to the American animals -- but they belong to different families.

Answer: gazelle

All of these animals are hoofed, but only one fits the description completely. The elephant and the rhino do not ruminate. The moose ruminates, but on its head are antlers (which are made of living bone and are shed annually), not horns (which are made of bony cores surrounded by keratin and are never shed). The gazelle ruminates and has horns, like all members of the bovid family, which includes all cattle, goats, sheep, bison, true antelopes, and gnus.

As swift as gazelles are, they don't generally outrun predators like cheetahs but rather out-maneuver them, and outlast them. A cheetah gives out after sprinting 0.28 miles (0.45 km) while a gazelle can run at high speed for much farther. Gazelles are well-adapted to dry environments, but the sandy gazelle (Gazella marica) takes it to the next level: it can shrink its heart and liver when water is scarce.

Answer: sailfish

The sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus) is listed in most sources, including America's NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), as the world's fastesh fish, leaping at 68 miles per hour or 110 kilometers per hour. When sailfish chase prey, speeds in the water can reach 40-56 miles per hour, or 25-35 kilometers per hour. The BBC once reported that a black marlin (Istiompax indica) stripped line off a fishing reel at 120 feet per second, which is about 80 miles per hour or 129 kilometers per hour. The speed of the sailfish, however, has been measured in speed trials and is considered reliable; research on black marlins has reproduced speeds nowhere near the media reports and topping at 22 miles per hour (36 km/h).

Sailfish grow rather large, up to 10 feet long and up to 128 pounds. Their magnificent dorsal fin, stretching nearly across their whole length, resembles a sail and gives them their name. The sailfish's upper jaw, which extends far longer than the lower jaw, looks and acts like a spear.

Answer: octopus

In his 'History of Animals', written in 350 BC, Aristotle wrote: "The octopus is a stupid creature...". Modern science, however, has proven the ancient philosopher wrong. A cephalopod with a large, condensed brain with areas specifically dedicated to learning, an octopus can navigate through mazes, solve problems (and recall solutions), open jars, and take things apart and put them back together again. They like to play and they exhibit distinct personalities. Having said that, two-thirds of an octopus's neurons reside in its arms, not its head, meaning that the octopus is a true multi-tasker (not a time-slicer like human beings). The arms can figure out how to open a shellfish while the rest of the octopus is busy doing something else, like examining an underwater cavern for more prey.

Octopuses are invertebrates, and while they comprise the entire order of Octopoda, they share class Cephalopoda with squid, cuttlefish, and the nautilus.

Answer: terrapin

Alligators, gharials, and crocodiles are all crocodilians. Alligators have a wide, rounded, u-shaped snout, while crocodiles have longer, pointed, v-shaped snouts. Alligators and crocodiles can be difficult to distinguish from afar, but not so gharials, which are easily identifiable as they have much longer, thinner, curvier snouts than the other two. Freshwater crocodiles are far more aggressive than gharials, alligators, or saltwater crocodiles, although the "salties" of Southeast Asia and Australia are the largest reptiles of all. (And all crocodilians are dangerous to humans.)

A terrapin is a turtle... ah, but what kind? The word "terrapin" comes from 'torope', an Algonquian word. Although it is American in origin, it is used in Britain to distinguish turtles that live in fresh or brackish water from those that live in the sea. In North America, only a specific species of eastern and southern U.S. tidewaters, the diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin), gets the name "terrapin"; the rest are "turtles". The British usage is gaining favor among the international zoological community in order to reduce ambiguity.

Answer: squirrel

Rodents are mammals that have ever-growing teeth that must be gnawed down regularly. Squirrels of course are not as potentially dangerous as other rodents like rats and mice, but they certainly can cause damage in gardens, where they may feed on a number of fruits, nuts, and other plants. They have also been known to chew their way to indoor food storage areas. Once inside the home, squirrels may breed and multiply within the walls and attics and cause more damage as they chew more holes through walls and ceilings.

Adorability aside, rabbits (which are lagomrophs, not rodents) are considered agricultural pests not only for eating crops but also for carrying disease. Raccoons (which are mustelids, not rodents) are infamous for scattering trash, ruining gardens, stealing food from pets, and even destroying insulation and electrical wiring. In the Northeastern United States raccoons are known carriers of rabies and any humans or pets who come in contact with them must be inoculated. A family of otters (also mustelids, not rodents) can also do damage to a house. As cute as they seem, they will harm or kill other small creatures, and they will go through human garbage like a raccoon.

Answer: whip-poor-will

The whip-poor-will is a nocturnal, medium-sized nightjar with grayish brown with darker streaks and broad black stripes on the crown. (Females are just a tad paler and browner than males). The white throat band distinguishes them from other nightjars, and so does their distinctive "whip-poor-will" call, with stress on the first and third syllables. Like all nightjars, they are nocturnal (as the name suggests). They prefer dry, not-too-dense woodlands near fields or meadows. Whip-poor-wills are quite monogamous, and females and males take turns incubating their eggs.

Hummingbirds of various species are found throughout the New World. Parrots range all over the Southern Hemisphere, including all of the Americas from Mexico southward, the Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa, South & Southeast Asia, and Oceania. The albatross ranges throughout the North Pacific and the Southern Ocean (but never in the North Atlantic).

Answer: gibbon

The gibbon is an arboreal ape (family Hylobatidae) of Southeast Asia, and it is bulit for brachiation. The gibbon has ridiculously long arms relative to its little torso, permanently hooked fingers, and powerful shoulder and elbow muscles. Unlike most other primates, even their wrist joints are constructed to unburden some of the weight from the shoulders. Using their bodies as a pendulum, they swing efficiently from branch to branch, tree to tree.

Baby gorillas and orangoutangs can brachiate a little, but they lose the ability as they get older and heavier (though small female orangs have been observed brachiating occasionally). Chimpanzees can brachiate, but not nearly as efficiently as gibbons, for they simply lack the anatomical structure, and adults are just too heavy relative to their arm length. Small children and well-trained, fit humans (like gymnasts) can learn to brachiate, but very inefficiently. (We are much better at bipedal walking and running!)