Animals Flashcards
Native to South America what is the largest rodent in the world?
Capybara
Which shark is named for the unusual and distinctive structure of its head which is flattened and laterally extended into a shape called a cephalofoil?
Hammerhead
The largest living species of tortoise is native to which group of islands which lie about 1000 km due west of Ecuador?
Galapagos
Also called the Arabian camel how many humps does the dromedary have on its back?
One
Which whale (Delphinapterus leucas) is known as the sea canary due to its high-pitched twitter and is entirely white as an adult?
Beluga
The diet of the koala consists almost entirely of the leaves of which tree?
Eucalyptus
With about 18 million individuals which is the most numerous penguin species named for its conspicuous yellow crest?
Macaroni
Which class of molluscs which includes snails and slugs takes its name from the Greek for ‘stomach foot’?
Gastropoda
The European species (Hirudo medicinalis) of which blood-sucking animal is used in a range of clinical applications?
Leech
Which is the only member of the deer family where the females grow and shed new antlers each year?
Reindeer
Only the tiger lion leopard and jaguar have the anatomical structure that enables them to do what?
Roar
Common vampire colossal giant and Humboldt all are species of which cephalopod?
Squid
Which large bear (Ursus arctos) has the widest distribution of any living bear?
Brown Bear
Rhinoceros horns are made of which protein?
Keratin
Which group of insects are capable of jumping many times their height and length but they are best known for their plant-sucking nymphs (known as spittlebugs) which encase themselves in froth in springtime?
Froghoppers
The male of which crab (genus Uca) has a major claw that is much larger than the minor claw?
Fiddler Crab
What name is given to any of the diverse group of flightless birds that have no keel on their sternum and includes the ostrich and the kiwi?
Ratite
Which order of bony fishes is named for their characteristic mode of predation in which a fleshy growth from the fish’s head acts as a lure?
Anglerfish
The most widely distributed species of owl which species (Tyto alba) has a blood-curdling shriek and a heart-shaped face?
Barn Owl
Which species of macaque is found in the Atlas Mountains of Algeria and Morocco along with a small population that was introduced from Morocco to Gibraltar?
Barbary Macaque
Plains Grevy’s and Mountain are the three species of which African mammal?
Zebra
What is the common name of the larvae of crane flies?
Leatherjackets
Believed to have been extinct since the end of the Cretaceous period which fish was discovered off the east coast of South Africa in 1938?
Coelacanth
Giving its name to a Major League Baseball team which rattlesnake has a series of distinctively shaped blotches overlaying its brown ground colour and has two species known as Eastern and Western?
Diamondback
Which order of jawless fish have a toothed funnel-like sucking mouth and are well known for those species which bore into the flesh of other fish to suck their blood?
Lampreys
What is the name of the largest group of baleen whales a family with nine species including the blue whale and the fin whale?
Rorquals
Looking like a jellyfish which hydrozoan is generally assumed to be a single organism but is actually a colonial organism made up of specialized individual animals?
Portuguese Man O’war
Which primates are the only non-human animals to have been observed engaging in tongue kissing and oral sex?
Bonobos
Native to sub-Saharan Africa what type of animal is a boomslang?
Snake
Named after the scientist who discovered it which frog has a unique form of parental care where the young develop from egg to froglet in their father’s vocal sac?
Darwin’s Frog
What is the stage in the life cycle of a salmon following the parr?
Smolt
Meerkats belong to which family of animals?
Mongoose (Herpestidae)
What is the common name of the family Salticidae the largest family of spiders which have excellent vision and do not build webs for hunting?
Jumping Spiders
The roadrunner is a member of which family of birds?
Cuckoo (Cuculidae)
What is the common name given to the 12 species of carpet sharks in the family Orectolobidae?. The word is believed to come from an Australian Aboriginal language.
Wobbegong
Hares rabbits and pikas are members of which taxonomic order?
Lagomorpha
Which milkweed butterfly is known for its annual late-summer/autumn migration from the United States and southern Canada to Mexico covering thousands of miles?
Monarch
What is the name of the horn-like protuberances on the heads of giraffes and okapis?
Ossicones
Mostly associated with insects what name is given to the act of producing sound by rubbing together certain body parts?
Stridulation
What anatomical feature do the Otariidae family of seals have that the Phocidae family of seals don’t have?
Ears
Which bird (Regulus ignicapilla) superficially resembles the goldcrest but has a distinctive strong face pattern and bronze shoulders?
Firecrest
Also known as the tree ocelot which small cat (Leopardus wiedii) native to Central and South America is very similar to the larger ocelot in appearance although the head is a little shorter the eyes larger and the tail and legs longer?
Margay
Which order of arachnids is known to glow a vibrant blue-green when exposed to certain wavelengths of ultraviolet light?
Scorpions
With over 17000 extant species which phylum is also known as the ringed worms or segmented worms?
Annelida
Living in forests in the Andes of Colombia and Ecuador which mammal of the raccoon family was described as new in 2013?
Olinguito
Native to Southern Asia and also known as the India bison what is the largest extant bovine?
Gaur
Which herbivorous and mainly nocturnal marsupial can be found on some smaller islands off the coast of Western Australia in particular on Rottnest Island?
Quokka
Known as HeroRATS Gambian pouched rats have been trained to detect what type of concealed devices?
Land Mines
Which species of pipistrelle bat was only formally separated from the common pipistrelle in 1999 – the two species were first distinguished on the basis of their different-frequency echolocation calls?
Soprano
Endemic to Madagascar which lemur is the smallest primate in the world?
Madame Berthe’s Mouse Lemur
