The Mighty Elephant Trivia Quiz

Answer: Loxodonta

There are 2 different species within the genus Loxodonta and these are "africana" and "cyclotis". Canis is the genus for dogs, including wolves and coyotes. Homo is the genus of us humans. Elephas is the genus of the Indian/Asian elephant.

Answer: True

It is sometimes misquoted that the African elephant is the largest animal on earth, but that distinction is held by the blue whale. A terrestrial animal is an animal that lives solely on land.

Answer: Africa

Savannah elephants are found in 37 countries in Africa in zones called the "Savannah zones" which are found south of the Sahara desert. Forest elephants live in the rain forests of west and central Africa.

Answer: digging for roots

Elephants use their tusks to dig for roots.

The trunk has an incredible 40,000 muscles alone. This is even more amazing to hear when you realize that an adult human only has 639 muscles in their entire body. The trunk is a combination lip and nose. The trunk is also strong enough to assist in toppling a tree yet fine tuned enough to pick up a single blade of grass. In addition, trunks are used in threat displays, used for dust baths, and can be used to discipline babies as well as adults.

Answer: ivory

The ivory has unfortunately been the downfall of both Asian and African elephants. Walruses and Narwhal's also have ivory "tusks".

Answer: Matriarch

Matriarchs are often the eldest females in the group. They become leaders because they have years of experience and remember where water, food, and important minerals are. They also help calm first time elephant mothers because they have had the same experience. The matriarch is also the grandmother and sometimes great grandmother of some of the females in the herd.

Answer: True

Many mammals breed and reproduce until they die. Elephants and humans are some of the few animals that continue to live after they can no longer reproduce. Elephants stop reproducing around the age of 50, which is similar to humans. However, after they stop reproducing, they can live an additional 20 years. During this time the female helps take care of younger calves.

Answer: Humans

Elephant calves often fall victim to predators and there have been videos of lions attacking calves. Therefore, being bipedal, humans are their only two legged enemy.

Answer: bull

The term "bull" is used for the male of many different species of animals, the most well known of which are male cattle.

Answer: Moving logs from the forest

Deforestation is one of the major reasons why Asian elephants are endangered. The logs that captive elephants are removing were the same trees that wild elephants used for food and scratching posts.