Scientific Names of Animals Trivia Quiz

Answer: short-beaked echidna

"Tachyglossus" means "fast tongue," "aculeatus" means "provided with prickles or spines." The short-beaked echidna is also called the spiny anteater. This is one of three egg-laying mammal species in the world, the other two being the long-beaked echidna and the platypus. Green naped lorikeet = Trichiglossus haemotodus, sperm whale = Physeter catodon, brown hyena = Hyaena brunnea.

Answer: white rhinoceros

"Ceratotherium" means "wild horn," "simum" means "flat-nosed." The white rhino has a wide, flat nose used for grazing. The name "white" is a misnomer, as it is really an adaptation of "weit," the Dutch word for "wide" (referring to the face). Asian elephant = Elephas maximus, dugong = Dugong dugon, greater bamboo lemur = Hapalemur simus.

Answer: walrus

"Odobenus" comes from the Greek "one that walks with its teeth," and "rosmarus" comes from the Scandinavian "rossmar," which means "walrus." Aquatic tenrec = Limnogale mergulus, red duiker = Cephalophus natalensis, bongo = Tragelaphus euryceros.

Answer: Galapagos marine iguana

"Amblyrhynchus" is Greek for "blunt snout," "cristatus" is Latin for "crested." The marine iguana has a short blunt face and a spiky crest on the top of the head. The scientific names for the others are: land iguana (Conolophus subcristatus), spiny tailed iguana(Ctenosaura similis), rhinoceros iguana (Cyclura cornuta).

Answer: black mamba

"Dendroaspis" is Greek for "tree snake," "polylepis" is Greek for "many scales." The black mamba is actually not black, but brown or gray. The other scientific names are: bushmaster (Lachesis muta), bush viper (Atheris squamiger), blood python (Python curtus).

Answer: giant anteater

"Myrmecophaga" is Greek for "anteater," "tridactyla" is Greek for "3 fingers." The giant anteater has 3 large claws on its front feet to excavate anthills and termite mounds. It actually has to walk on its knuckles in order to prevent self-injury. 2 toed sloth = Choloepus didactylus, giant pangolin = Manis gigantea, aardvark = Orycteropus afer.

Answer: bald eagle

"Haliaeetus" is Greek for "sea eagle," "leucocephalus" is Greek for "white head." Bateleur eagle = Terathopius ecaudatus, Harris' hawk = Parabuteo unicinctus, harpy eagle = Harpia harpyja.

Answer: blue monkey

"Cercopithecus" comes from the Greek "kerkos" (tail of a monkey) and "pithekos" (ape). "Mitis" is Latin for "mild or gentle" (blue monkeys are quiet and shy). Dian's tarsier = Tarsius dianae, aye-aye = Daubentonia madagascariensis, red tailed monkey = Cercopithecus ascanius.

Answer: false gharial

"Tomistoma" comes from the Greek "tomos"(sharp) and "stoma" (mouth). The species name "schlegelii" comes from H. Schlegel, a dutch zoologist. Cuban crocodile = Crocodylus rhombifer, gharial = Gavialis gangeticus, dwarf caiman = Paleosuchus palpebrosus.

Answer: golden snub-nosed monkey

"Rhinopithecus" comes from Greek "rhinos" (nose) and "pithekos" (ape). "Roxellana" comes from the name of Roxellana, the consort to Sultan Suleiman I of Turkey (1494-1566). Hanuman langur = Semnopithecus entellus, white faced saki = Pithecia pithecia, northern muriqui = Brachyteles hypoxanthus.