Offspring of Animals Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cria

Alpacas look somewhat like llamas, but unlike the llama, they are not beasts of burden but are bred for their fleece. These hardy little animals can be found in South America. When they're unshorn, they each look like a fluffy adorable ball crossed between a panda and a large dog. If shorn however, they tend to bear a resemblance to intoxicated sheep.

Answer: Baby

Apes belong to the hominoid family of animals. The two branches of this family include gibbons, siamangs, chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and, as science would have it and if you believe you're descended from one, humans as well.

Answer: Pup

Armadillos have a leathery outer skin that looks a little like chain mail armour, and the Spanish word for these creatures actually translates to "little armoured ones". They come in several sizes and can be found in America from Florida to Nebraska. Their diet is made up of mostly insects, grubs, ants and termites. Question: Is a very foolish armadillo called an armadill?

Answer: Pup

A bat is a flying mammal and at first glance look rather creepy, thanks to the deluge of horror movies incorporating these innocent little creatures into the cast. Up close however, they're not so bad and are indeed one of nature's miracles with their unique physiology.

They're also very useful little creatures that are an important part of the ecological chain in their role of pollinating plants and scattering fruit seeds over vast areas. There are over 1,000 different species throughout the world, with the smallest bat known as the Hog-Nosed bat. Somehow that seems rather insulting.

Answer: Larva

Bees play an enormously important role in mother nature by pollinating plants throughout the world. They also produce delicious and healthful honey - and manufacture beeswax which is used in an amazing array of products. These include food, pharmacy products, skin care, cheese coating, cosmetics, surgical bone wax, candles, shoe polish and furniture polish. Beeswax was even used once in the making of the early phonography cyclinders, and - well I'll bee blowed - as a stiffening agent for men's moustaches. So gentlemen, next time you're twirling your moustache amorously at the ladies, and they blush demurely at you, you can thank those humble little bees for their assistance in that regard.

Answer: Nymph

What a singularly incongruous name for a cockroach's offspring. There are over 4,500 different species of these creepy creatures world wide, but of this gruesome number, only thirty are usually associated with humans. They appear to have no useful purpose whatsoever, but in the 14th century, they were used as medicine, and in New Orleans today, many people are said to swear by the medicinal value of cockroach tea. That's New Orleans crossed off my list of places to visit. Currently there are also some extremely peculiar people who tout the nutritional value of the cockroach as well. I'd rather starve.

The biggest pest among the ranks of these creepy-crawlies is the American cockroach, closely followed by the German, the Asian and the Oriental cockroach.

Answer: Both are correct

Isn't that cute? I thought a juvenile hatchling was a juvenile delinquent in the making. Dinosaurs as we perceive them, are now extinct, and long and bitter is the debate that still rages around the halls of academia as to the manner of their demise. Their only very distant relatives today are birds.

Answer: Kit

Ferrets have been domesticated by mankind for almost three thousand years. Their main purpose was in hunting rabbits, and this is still the case in some parts of the world today. They were also used for running wires through large pipes or conduits. For the most part however, their association today with man is that of family pet.

Increasingly though, they are also being used in medical research in an attempt to find cures for illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, influenza and cyctic fibrosis.

This is apparently because they share many anatomical and physiological feaures with humans. We're now descended from ferrets as well as apes? Ferrets are naturally carnivores, whereas apes for the most part are herbivores. Dear me, next time I see a wildebeest I won't know whether to eat it or swing from its tail.

Answer: Maggot

That's revolting, but let us buzz along with the quiz. The fly belongs to the order Diptera, and that order includes over 240,000 different species of insects. Maggots are used in forensic science today to determine estimated date of death of a corpse that has become fly-blown. Maggots have also been used by the medical profession over time, and finding a revival again today, to eat away the rotting flesh of necrotic wounds. Nothing like sending the kids out to earn a living for the family I always say.

Answer: Pup

Gerbils used to be known as "desert rats". They're gentle little things for the most part and many are kept as family pets. The average size of a gerbil is 6-12 inches long but of that measurement, half is taken up by the tail. Half of my size is also taken up by my tail.

There are many different species of gerbil. In China in particular, the giant gerbil is now considered a pest and the authorities there have released eagles into the wild to hunt this species. When gerbils mate, the ritual lasts for several hours and is made up of short encounters which are then followed by short chases - where the cunning little lady gergil allows the male to catch her. That's so cute. One presumes the ritual eventually ceases only when the exhausted male keels over from exhaustion.