Animal trivia questions are always fun.
They're especially enjoyable when you can stump your friends with some of the more difficult questions.
Okay, maybe that's a bit mean but, come on, it's all in good fun.
Here's a little warm-up question to get you started:
Question: What is the national animal of Scotland? You will not find it in any taxonomy charts.
Answer: Unicorn
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299 Animal Trivia Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated For 2024)
- What type of bird, usually found in Antarctica, are the major characters in the series of movies known as ‘Happy Feet’?
Answer: Penguin
- Being the subject of a famous children’s book by Eric Carle, what animal is commonly known as the larval stage, or the “baby” form of a butterfly?
Answer: Caterpillar
- From the book of Genesis in the Bible, what was the name of the man who took two of each animal onto the Ark?
Answer: Noah
- While often confused with llamas, what breed of camelid is used for fleece production, while it's cousin the llama is not?
Answer: Alpaca
- Clemson University and Louisiana State University share what animal nickname, who has subspecies includes the Bengal and the Siberian?
Answer: Tigers
- You’ll find them in zoos around the world, but there’s only one place on Earth where hippopotamus roam naturally. Which continent would you have to travel to if you want to see a hippo in the wild?
Answer: Africa
- The Bryant Park location of the New York Public Library features Patience and Fortitude, two large marble statues of what animal?
Answer: Lion
- In the 1990s, what illness previously thought to be confined to cattle was found to have been expanded to impact livestock, other animals, and even humans?
Answer: Mad Cow's Disease
- Behind Tasmania and Melville Island, Australia's third-largest island is named for what animal, which is native to the country and also appears on its official Coat of Arms alongside an emu?
Answer: Kangaroo
- What kind of animal was Geoffrey, the longtime mascot of Toys "R" Us?
Answer: Giraffe
- You’d fall asleep before you could count all 27 million of them, compared to just 5 million people. New Zealand is the country with the highest ratio of what farmyard animal to humans?
Answer: Sheep
- Spotted, striped and black are species belonging to which mammalian family? Members of this family, though dog-like in appearance, are more closely related to cats than dogs. In the Disney movie “The Lion King”, a character voiced by Whoopi Goldberg is a member of this family.
Answer: Hyena
- A recent animal discovery in the Canadian Arctic is the Prizzly, a combination of what two bears? Hint: We're looking for TWO words here, both kinds of bear.
Answer: Polar, Grizzly
- Uga is the name of a popularly known animal in the state of Georgia. What type of animal is Uga?
Answer: Bulldog
- What dark-colored ursine animal is used as the mascot for athletic teams at the University of Maine?
Answer: Black Bears
- Titled after a controversial comic book it released in 2003, “Your Mommy Kills Animals” is the name of the 2007 Curt Johnson documentary which focuses on what animal rights group?
Answer: PETA
- The phrase "sacred cow" to describe a person or thing immune from criticism comes from what religion that in fact does revere cows as holy animals?
Answer: Hindu
- A farm in Palmer, Alaska is dedicated to the conservation of what woolly arctic animal? The late Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek was a devoted supporter of the farm, and often lent his image to their outreach efforts.
Answer: Musk Ox
- Mission Park in San Diego, CA is home to a location of what animal theme park and oceanarium? It used to best known for its connections to the killer whale Keiko, and the movie “Free Willy”, until outside pressure limited their use of orcas.
Answer: SeaWorld
- What annoying insect gets its name from the Spanish word for "little fly?"
Answer: Mosquito
- Estivation is the summer equivalent of which state of minimal activity and metabolic depression traditionally associated with rodents?
Answer: Hibernation
- Some of our favorite collective nouns for animals include a congregation of alligators, a business of ferrets, an ostentation of peacocks, and a gaggle of what other fowl?
Answer: Geese
- What creature with an equine name has no teeth or stomach, mates for life, and is one of the only species on Earth where the male carries the unborn offspring?
Answer: Seahorse
- American sculptor Jim Gary is perhaps best known for his large, colorful sculptures of which group of extinct animals made from discarded automobile parts?
Answer: Dinosaurs
- The flightless cormorant, the only known member of this bird species that has lost the ability to fly, fishes in the waters off of what isolated islands known for unusual animals?
Answer: Galapagos Islands
- When it opened in 1874, which facility—the first of its kind in America—charged visitors 25 cents to see almost 1,000 animals?
Answer: Philadelphia Zoo
- The Tasmanian masked owl's scientific name is Tyto novaehollandiae castanops. The "castanops" comes from its facial resemblance to what roasted holiday nut?
Answer: Chestnut
- What dozy treetop mammal can hold its breath underwater for a whopping 40 minutes, even longer than dolphins?
Answer: Sloth
- What oceanic animal has the scientific name monodon monoceros, Greek for "one-tooth one-horn?"
Answer: Narwhal
- If they were allowed to compete at the Olympics, they would win the 100m in under 7 seconds. What bird is the fastest running animal on two legs?
Answer: Ostrich
- What nine-letter word, which comes from an older meaning of a word now used to mean a male spouse, means the care, cultivation, and breeding of animals or crops?
Answer: Husbandry
- A pig can also be called a swine in the general sense. However, a domesticated pig that’s mature (and bigger—say, 120 pounds or heavier) can be called by which three-letter H-term?
Answer: Hog
- Nine years after Dolly the sheep was cloned in 1996, a creature named "Snuppy" became the first ever clone of what animal?
Answer: Dog
- The flu shot is recommended by the WHO and CDC for yearly vaccination for nearly all people over the age of six months. What animal's eggs are often used to produce this vaccine each year?
Answer: Hen / Chicken
- What gemstone is calcium carbonate in minute crystallized form, recovered from the soft tissue of a mollusk or other animal? It is associated with the month of June.
Answer: Pearl
- Anoxia is a condition that also occurs in animals, where what crucial element for an animal’s life is dangerously low in the blood or body tissues?
Answer: Oxygen
- Adult male gorillas are given what colorful nickname, due to the grey hair found on their hind torso?
Answer: Silverback
- Biopharming is the process of producing edible pharmaceuticals in plants and domestic animals, such as what “V” medical method of causing a person to develop antibodies against a disease without direct exposure to that illness?
Answer: Vaccine
- Which in-it-for-the-long-haul-through-the-desert animal is used as a nickname for a start-up that’s growing slow and steady (as compared to a reach-for-the-stars unicorn)?
Answer: Camel
- In 1974, Rudolf Jaenisch created the first GM animal when, in order to use them to study cancer and neurological diseases, he inserted foreign DNA into what mammal?
Answer: A mouse
- Hermes, Errol, and Pigwidgeon are three of the many pets in a famous series of books. What type of animal are all of these named companions?
Answer: Owls
- With exclamations that can travel as far as 5km, one of the loudest land animals is what aptly named monkey group?
Answer: Howler monkeys
- Which mammal with a name that starts with the same letter twice is one of the fastest diggers in the wild—they can make a 2-foot hole in about 15 seconds flat, which comes in handy if they’re trying to hide from a predator (lions) or find their favorite snack (insects).
Answer: Aardvark
- What Iron containing metalloprotein carries oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body? It is in the red blood cells most vertebrate animals.
Answer: Hemoglobin
- The Merlion, the official mascot of Singapore, is a mythical creature with the head of a lion and the body of what animal??
Answer: Fish
- An animal rescue center in Limon, Costa Rica is named after what “J” cat species? These spotted members of genus Panthera are the largest cats in the Americas.
Answer: Jaguar Rescue Center
- Cockroaches, earwigs, and moths all have the same number of legs—how many?
Answer: Six
- Despite going extinct in the 17th century, what species of bird appears on the coat of arms of the island nation of Mauritius?
Answer: Dodo
- The last widely-accepted sighting of a certain bird species was in 1662 on the island nation of Mauritius. Intriguingly, due to the bird's remote home, the creature was considered mythological for a period of time. What is this bird?
Answer: Dodo
- What kind of cat is a long-haired breed with a round face and a short muzzle? Contrary to its name, not all of them live in Iran.
Answer: Persian
- Three monosyllabic creatures collectively and repeatedly uttered the name "Budweiser" in a famous 1995 Super Bowl commercial. What type of animals were these pseudo-mascots?
Answer: Frogs
- Fossorial animals are adapted to what type of activity? Notable examples of fossorial animals include badgers and aardvarks.
Answer: Digging
- The mascot of Washington D.C.'s Howard University is what animal, which President Barack Obama declared the United States' national mammal in 2016?
Answer: American Bison
- John James Audubon, an American artist and naturalist active in the early 1800s, lends his name to a “society” of environmentalists dedicated to the conservation of what type of animal?
Answer: Birds
- Aside from Antarctica and Australia, what is the continent with no native bear species?
Answer: Africa
- According to Machiavelli's "The Prince," a leader must imitate two animals: the fox for its cunning, and what predatory feline for its strength?
Answer: Lion
- As the only U.S. state with two different symbols for each side of its national flag, the obverse of Oregon’s flag depicts a portion of its state seal, while the reverse side shows an image of what herbivorous, semiaquatic rodent that is also the state animal of New York?
Answer: Beaver
- After receiving his PhD in biophysics from Harvard University in 1967, Mario Capecchi won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2007 for creating variants of what lab animals with certain genes turned off?
Answer: Mice
- Named after an implement used to cut dough into a desired shape on account the marks left behind on animals on which it has fed, how is the cigar shark more commonly known?
Answer: Cookiecutter shark
- Mr. Porter, Mr. Chestnut and Mr. Tribbiani would all not doubt know that a baby kangaroo or wallaby is known by what four-letter name?
Answer: Joey
- Maybe they just don't know the words! At 2.4 inches long and weighing about 2g, zunzuncitos are the smallest birds on the planet - they are a member of which family of birds, the only ones who are able to fly backwards?
Answer: Hummingbirds
- Long-nosed, screaming hairy, and pink fairy are species of what animal whose name comes from the Spanish for "little armored one?"
Answer: Armadillo
- Due to the genes they inherit, around 80% of cats with pure white fur and what color eyes are born deaf?
Answer: Blue
- Not needing to fly south for the winter, ‘Macaroni’ is a breed of which flightless bird? Robin Williams voiced on of these in a famous animated movie.
Answer: Penguin
- The pattern of wrinkles on the noses (a noseprint) of which large primate act like a fingerprint in humans, as they are unique to each individual animal?
Answer: Gorilla
- What fish with a comical name is always born male, and becomes female only when the dominant female has passed away?
Answer: Clownfish
- What marital name is given to the science of breeding, feeding, and caring for farm animals in the proper way?
Answer: Animal Husbandry
- Native to South America, the capybara is the largest extant member of which order of mammals? Approximately 40% of all mammal species belong to this order.
Answer: Rodents
- What member of the monitor lizard family, whose adult males can weigh as much as 200 pounds, is the national animal of Indonesia?
Answer: Komodo dragon
- Though they may not seem like hunters, what dog breed was originally developed to hunt burrowing animals? This breed's name, in fact, means "badger hound" in German.
Answer: Dachshund
- Take a country's name. Drop one letter. You're left with a young, ursine animal. Name the country or the animal.
Answer: Cuba or Cub
- Which breed of dog with distinctive coat markings, which originated as a hunting dog and carriage dog, is named after a historic region of Croatia?
Answer: Dalmatian
- Representing the importance of animal husbandry to its economy, the state seal of Delaware features what type of cattle, which is also an animal of the Chinese zodiac?
Answer: Ox
- The entrance to the Desert of Maine features two statues of what kind of animal that definitely isn't native to the area?
Answer: Camel
- Animals as well as humans can suffer from what “A” dilations or bulges in a blood vessel, caused by weakening of its walls?
Answer: Aneurysm
- Animals can be given what “A” type of drug, which nullifies the effect of another substance? In literary terms, it is the opposite of a protagonist.
Answer: Antagonist
- Just like in humans, animals produce what “A” type of molecule, a product of the immune system that attacks a foreign substance in the body?
Answer: Antibody
- Which popular pet is the only domestic animal that’s not mentioned in The Bible?
Answer: Cats
- Territorio de Zaguates (“Land of the Strays”) is an animal shelter where hundreds of rescues roam happy and free long after being abandoned by their owners. Which type of pet calls this haven home?
Answer: Dog
- How many fingers does a raccoon have on each front paw? The raccoon’s scavenging nature might get them this type of discount on your trash.
Answer: Five
- Rather than being named after animals, two movements within Camille Saint-Saëns' "The Carnival of the Animals" suite are instead named after places where animals are kept. What single word aquatic enclosure is the name of the suite's seventh movement?
Answer: Aquarium
- One delicacy associated with Cincinnati is a soup that calf brains, organs, or beef as a substitute for the meat of what animal? Hey, don't "mock" it till you try it!
Answer: Turtle
- Provender is another name for which agricultural term for food like silage and hay that is meant to feed animals—especially livestock?
Answer: Fodder
- Pandas have a unique feature to their eyes that sets them apart from other bears and actually makes the more like cats: they have vertical slits for what part of their eye that lets in light?
Answer: Pupil
- In Japan, only qualified chefs who have trained for at least three years are allowed to prepare the dish "fugu." This is because fugu is made from what poisonous animal, thus can be fatal if incorrectly prepared?
Answer: Pufferfish
- What is the branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds? This branch attracted public attention following the 2018 Netflix true-crime docu-series "The Staircase" in which a suspected murderer could have been exonerated for the death of his wife through a speculated "Owl Theory."
Answer: Ornithology
- Ancient writer Pliny the Elder wrote that owl's eggs were a common cure for what condition? Other animal-adjacent cures for this condition might include the "hair of the dog."
Answer: Hangover
- What is the loudest animal on earth? Talking about the loudest noise it can generate, not its proportion of time spend making noise.
Answer: Sperm Whale - Sarah Bernhardt and Ben Harrison were the oddly human-sounding names of two creatures that were first brought to Golden Gate Park in 1890 and have become a fixture ever since. Or, their descendants have. What type of animal were Sarah and Ben?
Answer: Bison
- In ruminant animals, the rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum are the four compartments of what organ, which helps the animals ferment their food before digestion?
Answer: Stomach
- In 1949, Albert II became the first of which close relative of humans to go to space?
Answer: Monkey
- The children's book "Doctor De Soto" by "Shrek" author William Steig is about a tiny dentist who tries to avoid getting eaten by his fox patient. What kind of animal is Doctor De Soto?
Answer: Mouse
- What term means the vascular membrane containing large branched pigmented cells that lies between the retina and the sclera of the eye in vertebrate animals?
Answer: Choroid
- Next time you go see a movie, take some time to think about the binturong. This animal, sometimes known as the bearcat, has an interesting scent which is said to be reminiscent of what snack?
Answer: Popcorn
- Formula One racer Daniel Ricciardo is frequently referred to by what two-word animal nickname, inspired by the animal's fearlessness and not as a statement that he "just don't care?"
Answer: Honey badger
- Since 2012 Costa Rica's paper money has featured not only significant historical figures but also images of what else?
Answer: Biodiversity
- What adorable orange tabby cat, first seen in “Captain Marvel” (2019), is actually a Flerken, a tentacled alien that can eat people it doesn’t like? Its name, that of an unrelated animal, seems like a nod to the “Top Gun”-esque fighter pilot action seen throughout the movie.
Answer: Goose
- Reflecting a nickname for the team, what canine animal is featured in the insignia of the Leicester City Football Club?
Answer: Fox
- What group of large hairy spiders is named after a town in Southern Italy, which also names the largest gulf in Italy?
Answer: Tarantulas (named after the town of Taranto)
- At about the size of a soccer ball, the eyes of the "colossal" species of what invertebrate are the largest of any animal?
Answer: Squid
- Also the name adopted by Janine Renard, the leader of "The Pack" in the TV show Gargoyles, what animal is the first name of Agent Mulder in the X-Files?
Answer: Fox
- There are three conventional groups of mammals. The monotremes (including the platypus and echidna) are the oldest and the placentals (including humans) are the most recent to evolve. What third group evolved in between these two other groups?
Answer: Marsupials
- Which part of an owl’s body is not a “true” organ in the sense that it can’t move? (It’s also not shaped as you’d expect—it’s tubular instead of round).
Answer: Eye
- What French jeweler is famous for its "menagerie" animal pieces, including an onyx-and-diamond bracelet shaped like a panther that was owned by Wallis Simpson?
Answer: Cartier
- What bird, that is also the patron animal of the Greek god Zeus, is depicted as a double-headed creature on the official national flag of Albania?
Answer: Eagle
- Hermione Granger's patronus is represented by what occasionally water-bound animal?
Answer: Otter
- There are over 2,000 variations of the maneki-neko at a Cincinnati museum dedicated to statues of what lucky animal?
Answer: Cat
- What “F” term applies to a specialist who applies shoes to a horse’s hooves? The term is a derivation of the Latin word for “Iron”, applying to the construction of the horseshoes.
Answer: Farrier
- In episode 169 of the Current’s Podcast, what did Brian DeMeulle say he did not get eaten by in Rwanda or India? There are two different animals, and you can name either one.
Answer: Tigers or Gorillas
- Where did all of the following famous animals live? Bo & Sunny, Barney, and Socks.
Answer: The White House
- Though their stinging tentacles aren't actually snakes, jellyfish are part of a subphylum named for what Gorgon?
Answer: Medusa
- If dogs are canine, and cats are feline, what type of animal is vulpine?
Answer: Foxes
- According to an urban legend, what type of animal caused the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 by knocking over a lantern?
Answer: Cow
- Outside the UCSF Medical Center in the Inner Sunset neighborhood you'll see two different sculptures by Benny Bufano made of granite. Both sculptures depict what type of animal?
Answer: Bear
- What G-word applies to a castrated animal, but especially a male horse, donkey, mule, or llama?
Answer: Gelding
- "It’s Every Monkey for Themselves: A True Story of Sex, Love and Lies in the Jungle" is a memoir by what well-known Australian scientist about her time in Costa Rican jungles?
Answer: Vanessa Woods
- What type of animal is most prominently featured on the back of the piece of Costa Rican currency worth 50 mil colones?
Answer: Butterfly
- The majority of the products sold by the "Adams" brand with its iconic blue bottles focus on what animal pest?
Answer: Fleas and ticks
- Popular during the 1950s along with the quiff and the elephant's trunk, what is the animal-based name of the haircut in which the hair is greased, combed back around the sides, and—critically—parted centrally through the back of the head?
Answer: Duck tail
- What is the name of the English veterinary surgeon who wrote popular books about his experience treating animals like "All Creatures Great and Small" and "The Lord God Made Them All?"
Answer: James Herriot
- The controversial Mussolini-gifted sculpture in Cincinnati's Eden Park depicts what animal sucking the founders of an Italian city?
Answer: Wolf
- The official state cat of a New England state, what is the breed of the domestic cat with the longest tail ever measured (17.58 inches), according to the Guinness Book of World Records?
Answer: Maine Coon
- In 2016, two extraordinarily large rodents escaped Toronto's High Park Zoo and became an international news sensation referred to as Bonny and Clyde. What type of animal were these critters?
Answer: Capybaras
- When a veterinarian uses the abbreviation A.U., they are referring to something going on with both of what body parts of an animal?
Answer: Ears
- Let's shake things up. Instead of cricket the sport, a question about cricket the animal. How many legs does a cricket have?
Answer: Six
- What “D” illness is prevalent in many animal species but is known to cause watery and pus-like discharge from the eyes of dogs? It kind of sounds like a synonym for someone being upset.
Answer: Distemper
- What animal based service, founded in 2013 in San Diego, CA, allows for Vets and patients to connect directly through their app? Their first law is to improv the lives of any “Pet” as much as possible.
Answer: PetDesk
- The University of Cincinnati has what animal as a mascot, an English name for the Binturong, which is native to southeast Asia? It has two unrelated animals in its “B” name.
Answer: Bearcat
- Pipsqueak, Mr. Squiggles, and Num Nums were among the initial American release of what colorful, potato-shaped stuffed animals whose name comes from the Mandarin for "little pig"?
Answer: Zhu Zhu Pets
- In February 2021, a Texas county attorney had an instantly famous bad day when he made a virtual court appearance unable to turn off a Zoom filter that made him look like what animal?
Answer: Cat
- What fictional physician, who first appeared in children's books in 1920 and has been played on film by Eddie Murphy, prefers treating animals to humans and can speak to his patients?
Answer: Doctor Dolittle
- Portland, Oregon holds a strange record likely to go without contest. In 2000, researchers in the city earned the title for creating what first-of-its-kind bioluminescent animal? Although they inserted jellyfish glow genes into a whole barrel of them, only one came out with the unique ability.
Answer: Monkey
- What six-letter D-word means a fold of loose skin hanging from the neck or throat of an animal, as is the case for many geese?
Answer: Dewlap
- In Disney's "Fantasia 2000," the story of Noah's Ark is recreated with what quack-tastic character as Noah's assistant in getting animals onto the ark?
Answer: Donald Duck
- What “S” Aquarium in Chicago’s Museum Campus park opened in 1930 and has a 5 million gallon tank and about 30,000 animals?
Answer: Shedd Aquarium
- Just like humans, animals are susceptible to what common disease causing inflammation or degradation of the joints?
Answer: Arthritis
- Following a group of fifth graders from Niles, Michigan discovering their state did not have an official reptile, the painted species of what animal was named Michigan’s state reptile in 1995?
Answer: Turtle
- In 2017, Cadillac Fairview popped up some apiaries in Montréal as part of a pilot program for cultivating what type of animals?
Answer: Bees
- What “R” Nature Center in Richmond, VA is located at Maymont and offers conversation to animals, fish, and reptiles? Its name is also the plural for multiple sidekicks of Batman.
Answer: Robins Nature Center
- A strong indicator that an animal is in good health, the veterinary acronym BAR stands for bright, alert, and what third adjective?
Answer: Responsive
- You could buy a friend a copy of "Life of Pi" with a Cadillac Fairview gift card celebrating the 2022 Lunar New Year that falls under what animal?
Answer: Tiger
- What white bird, associated with bringing peace and even new babies to a household, is the national animal of Lithuania?
Answer: Stork
- Acromegaly, a hormone disorder that causes an excess of bone growth in an animal’s legs, is caused by excess of hormones from what “P” gland at the base of the brain?
Answer: Pituitary
- Animals as well as humans can suffer from what “H” bruising condition, in which a pool of blood collects under the skin?
Answer: Hematoma
- Similar to humans, animals can suffer from what “A” condition, a low red blood cell count? Some humans suffer from a “sickle cell” version.
Answer: Anemia
- What is the "L" name of the network of caves in Dordogne in southwest France, famous for their paleolithic drawings of bulls and other local animal life?
Answer: Lascaux
- Which term is defined as green fodder compacted and stored in airtight conditions, typically in a silo, without first being dried, and used as animal feed in the winter?
Answer: Silage
- As with cattle, female crocodiles are called cows, and male crocodiles are called what?
Answer: Bulls
- All animals are vulnerable to what “A” bacterial disease that can occur amongst sheep and cattle? It shares its name with a heavy metal band featuring Scott Ian on rhythm guitar.
Answer: Anthrax
- Pretty much 50/50 shot: Feeding predominantly on fish, the Gharial is a member or which order of large, saltwater-friendly reptiles that pop up on the Lacoste label?
Answer: Crocodilians
- “Beefalo” have been crossbred in the United States since the early 1970s. The hybrid is part buffalo and which animal?
Answer: Cow
- Mickey Mouse might be his most famous cartoon, but he wasn’t Walt Disney’s first original character. Which animal was Disney's “lucky” Oswald?
Answer: Rabbit
- While pet owners may assume their mousers are nocturnal, which animal is actually crepuscular—meaning they’re most active at dawn and dusk?
Answer: Cats
- When children in Latin America lose a tooth, they aren’t visited by the Tooth Fairy. What’s the name of the animal who comes bearing gifts in exchange for a tooth?
Answer: Ratoncito Pérez
- Noah’s Ark was pretty crowded with animals, but there were some humans, too. According to The Bible, how many people were aboard it?
Answer: Eight
- A field that holds more than 500 million barrels of oil, such as Alaska's Prudhoe Bay, may be known by what animalistic nine-letter term?
Answer: Elephant
- Which “M” term would be used to describe inflamed, infected mammary glands in an animal?
Answer: Mastitis
- Deuteronomy 14:3-8 says that it’s OK to eat animals with split hooves divided in two who chew the what?
Answer: Cud
- What “h” refers to the stems or stalks of crops, such as peas or potatoes, especially as used for animal bedding?
Answer: Haulm
- Sharing its name with an animal, which sports brand was founded after a family feud between brothers and shoe manufacturers Adi and Rudi Dassler?
Answer: Puma
- Originating in China over 10,000 years ago, sericulture is the practice of raising an animal with the scientific name "bombyx mori" in order to produce what material?
Answer: Silk
- Isle Royale National Park, whose isolation makes it perfect for studying animal behavior, boasts the world's longest study of predator-prey relationships, going back fifty years. Name either the species of predator or the species of prey involved in this longtime study.
Answer: Wolves, moose
- In 1978, a pair of men searching for arrowheads near Waco, TX stumbled upon the fossils of sixteen individuals of what Pleistocene-era animal? In 2015, President Barack Obama created a new national monument to protect the site of the discovery.
Answer: Mammoths
- What “i” refers to the last stage in the metamorphosis of insects in which maturity is reached?
Answer: Imago
- In Prokofiev's "symphonic fairy tale" Peter and the Wolf, the oboe represents what animal, which--spoiler alert--is eaten by the wolf after jumping out of the pond?
Answer: Duck
- Holland Lop, Lionhead, Flemish Giant, and Harlequin are all breeds of what animal that is kept both as a pet and, in some countries, for human consumption?
Answer: Rabbit
- The San Diego Zoo's website hosts a popular live cam of Biarrung and Eve, the only two captive animals of what monotreme species outside Australia?
Answer: Platypus
- The name of which large rodent (the third largest kind of rodent after capybara and beaver) comes from the Latin words for "pig" and "quill"?
Answer: Porcupine
- Which term describes a young animal that’s 1 to 2 years old? (Hint: It’s also in the title of a best-selling novel by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings about a child and their pet deer).
Answer: Yearling
- Which deep-sea cephalopod has three hearts that pump copper-rich blue blood to its eight limbs?
Answer: Octopus
- In 1997, a group of school kids successfully convinced Michigan to make the white-tailed variety of which forest critter the official state animal?
Answer: Deer
- Which “golden” term applies to a female pig who is younger than 1 year old and has not yet given birth to any piglets?
Answer: Gilt
- Despite it providing a minimal amount of energy or protein, over 99% of the diet of the Giant Panda is made up of what plant?
Answer: Bamboo
- Which animal known for helping Santa out with its nose is also the only creature known to change the color of its eyeballs (from yellow to blue) to help them see better in the low light of winter?
Answer: Reindeer
- Which D-term isn’t just something that beavers build—it also refers to an animal’s mom?
Answer: Dam
- What type of tissue, which forms the outer surface of organs, is one of four basic types of animal tissue, along with connective, muscle, and nervous tissues?
Answer: Epithelial
- Which A-term refers to an animal's age in years rather than their age in terms of development? For example, how old a dog actually is by the calendar as opposed to how many “dog years” old they are.
Answer: Absolute
- Which D-term describes a hereditary condition where an animal’s hip joint becomes partially or totally dislocated because the hip socket did not form properly during growth?
Answer: Dysplasia
- Monkeys are often lumped together with all primates, but there are actually some key differences. For example, most monkeys have which body part that you wouldn't spot on an ape?
Answer: Tail
- Which clever, trash-loving forest creature’s name was inspired by how it uses its hands?
Answer: Raccoon
- What’s the formal name for the rare, endangered species of antelope that’s native to the Sahara and is commonly known as the white or screwhorn antelope?
Answer: Addax
- Sharing its name with a type of percussion instrument consisting of two small drums, which species of African antelope has a reddish-brown coat, white or yellow markings and spiral horns?
Answer: Bongo
- When you hear “milk” you might think “cow” or maybe “goat,” but which mammal (the largest in North America) actually produces even more nutrient-dense milk? (Hint: They’re commonly called “buffalo” but their name is a different B word. Also, they’re kinda tough—so don’t try to milk one!)
Answer: Bison
- Staple-style lacing for belts is also called by which animal-style (or, more specifically, reptilian) name?
Answer: Alligator
- It sounds like something you’d bring on a plane, but which term actually refers to dead animal matter that makes a tasty meal for scavengers? (Hint: It’s what comes before detritus)
Answer: Carrion
- It is the only place in the world outside of Africa to see them in the wild. Gir National Park in Gujarat is home to over 600 of what animals in the genus Panthera?
Answer: Lions
- In 2022, scientists discovered that females of at least nine species of which reptile have a particularly pleasurable organ that’s actually shaped a little like a heart (bonus fact: it’s called the hemiclitoris)?
Answer: Snakes
- The Aye-aye, a type of Lemur, is notable for the quirky way it finds its food. What part of the Aye-aye's body is longer than typical and uniquely jointed so it can better find insects hidden within the wood of trees?
Answer: Middle Finger
- Beach Comber, Gustav, and White Vision are the names of individual birds who won UK's Dickin Medal, called the "Victoria Cross" for animal. All three of these are what type of bird?
Answer: Pigeon
- A research paper in 2007 showed that the Tyrannosaurus Rex’s closest known relative today was what type of bird?
Answer: Chicken
- Hemangiosarcoma is an aggressive form of cancer (especially common in large-breed dogs) that arises from the skin or the lining of which structure in an animal’s body?
Answer: Blood vessels
- Found on its national flag as well as many other national symbols, what species of eagle is the official animal emblem of the country of Mexico?
Answer: Golden Eagle
- Which American retailer that sells goods for your cat, dog, fish, or other companion animal has a name that has confused shoppers for decades since it’s a combination of two words that can technically be broken up in two different ways to make two different phrases? (Hint: Only one is correct if you go according to the capitalization style of the logo!)
Answer: PetSmart
- As well as being a homophone fire a matching group of things, what is the term for the den of a badger?
Answer: Sett
- Some animals eat only plants, some only eat meat. What’s the name for animals (including some humans) who can eat both—plus other stuff like fungi? (Hint: According to Michael Pollan’s 2006 book, those of us who fall into the category may face a “dilemma” since we have so many foods to choose from)
Answer: Omnivore
- Echidnas (also known as spiny anteaters) and platypuses are the only egg-laying mammals. What is this group of mammals called?
Answer: Monotremes
- Also known as a spinner fish, what family of aptly named fish are known for preying on land-based insects and other small animals by shooting them with water droplets to knock them into the water?
Answer: Archerfish
- Whether it’s your first time or you’re getting back in the saddle, which animal (a loyal steed, indeed) can you take for a trail ride at Ascend Camp and Retreat Center?
Answer: Horse
- In 1859, the United States and Britain nearly went to war over the shooting of what common, domesticated animal on San Juan Island in Washington? The incident would not be formally resolved until 1871, when the final boundary between the US and Canada was settled, with the San Juan Islands becoming US territory.
Answer: Pig
- Having a long coat which may hang in cords ("dreadlocks"), the poitou is an endangered French breed of what domesticated animal?
Answer: Donkey
- Which animal that lives in Australia and carries its babies in a pouch is one of the largest mammals to get around only by hopping? (Hint: The name is not a combo of “wallaby” and “kangaroo;” however, they are sort of between those two animals in terms of size)
Answer: Wallaroo
- Native to Australia, and incorrectly labeled as bears by many people, how many different breeds of Koala are there in the wild?
Answer: One
- Cats (family Felidae) are divided into big cats (subfamily Pantherinae) and small cats (subfamily Felinae). How many species of big cats are there?
Answer: Seven
- What species of hyena found in Eastern and Southern Africa is usually the second animal found in the dictionary after aardvark?
Answer: Aardwolf
- Ovine refers to which wooly, ruminant farm animal?
Answer: Sheep
- Cincinnati Museum Center's Geier Research Center can be easily located by the life-size statues of what ancient animals that sit outside?
Answer: Woolly Mammoths
- A crime-fighting canine needs a nose for crime. Which super-sniffing dog breed was the first animal to have its evidence deemed admissible in U.S. courts?
Answer: Bloodhound
- On April Fool's Day in France, one might be presented with un poisson d'avril, a chocolate shaped like what animal?
Answer: Fish
- What Asian country – whose national flag features a blue 24-spoke Ashoka Chakra wheel in its center – is the world’s largest producer of milk?
Answer: India
- When speaking in English, the name of this animal shares its name with a country. In French and Russian, the animal has a name meaning "from India" or "bird of India." And in Portuguese the animal is named "peru" deriving from the eponymous country. What is this confusingly named animal?
Answer: Turkey
- Killing what type of bird, some species of which have wingspans over 10 feet wide, is very bad luck in maritime tradition, as they are said to carry the souls of dead sailors?
Answer: Albatross
- What word means a female dairy animal that has not yet given birth and therefore does not produce milk?
Answer: Heifer
- “Brille” is the name of the transparent, immovable disc-shaped skin or scale comprising part of which organs of some animals, particularly snakes?
Answer: Eyes
- What Australian mammal is the only animal known to produce cube-shaped feces?
Answer: Wombat
- What is the loudest animal on earth? Talking about the loudest noise it can generate, not its proportion of time spend making noise.
Answer: Sperm Whale
- To some they are an irritating garden pest, to others they are tasty cuisine. Heliciculture is the practice of raising what animal for human consumption?
Answer: Snails
- In 1794, William Blake wrote about what powerful animal in a poem, wondering what kind of hand or eye “Dared frame thy fearful symmetry?” It was also the name of the dog on “The Brady Bunch.”
Answer: Tiger
- One of the official state symbols of Washington, what species is the largest member of dolphin family?
Answer: Orca (Killer Whale)
- Separating humans and some primates from other animals by allowing a specific type of movement, the Trapezium, one of the carpal bones, is found in which human appendage?
Answer: Hand
- What word refers to small organisms, including both plants and animals, that are unable to move themselves against ocean currents?
Answer: Plankton
- Emerging in 2011, a series of memes showing really bad science-related puns and jokes was known as “Chemistry BLANK." What animal fills in the blank?
Answer: Cat
- What semi-aquatic animal has the largest teeth of any living land mammal, with canines up to 2 feet long?
Answer: Hippopotamus
- What spooky type of crab is able to scare off potential predators by creating a growl via teeth located in their stomach?
Answer: Ghost crab
- In 1877, Robert Peary graduated from Bowdoin College. In 1913, Bowdoin would select a school mascot to honor Peary and his expeditions. What four-legged animal did they choose?
Answer: Polar bear
- What breed of cattle, which originally breed in the Netherlands and Northern Germany, accounts for over 90% of cows on US dairy farms?
Answer: Holstein Friesian
- According to National Geographic, a group of king cobras is known as what six-letter word that could also be used to describe a container for carrying arrows in archery?
Answer: Quiver
- What “T” eight-legged segmented micro-animals can actually survive in the vacuum of space?
Answer: Tardigrade
- What animal wins the prize as hairiest? They have the densest fur of all known mammals, with almost 100,000 hairs per square centimeter. Hint: We're looking for a two-word marine mammal here.
Answer: Sea Otters
- It's commonly known that most owls are nocturnal; however, some are in fact crepuscular. What does it mean for an animal to be crepuscular?
Answer: Awake and active during twilight and dawn (rather than night or day)
- Technically, North America's most common species in the Columbidae family, this bird was named for the sad cooing notes it makes. What is the name of this bird that sounds like it should be attending a funeral 24/7?
Answer: Mourning dove
- The country of India has three national animals. Two of them live on the land or air. One does not. What is it?
Answer: River dolphin
- The Japanese Raccoon Dog (as opposed to the mainland Raccoon Dog) is also known by what Japanese name? These animals are abundant in Japan, even in cities.
Answer: Tanuki
- Known for its distinctive shape and cult following as a cheesecake ingredient, the logo for Toblerone chocolate features a mountain with a hidden image of what animal?
Answer: Bear
- Rikki-Tikki-Tavi was an animal character created by Rudyard Kipling in his anthology "The Jungle Book." What type of animal is Rikki-Tikki-Tavi?
Answer: Mongoose
- Although it doesn't have legal status as such, which domesticated swamp-type water buffalo is considered the national animal of the Philippines?
Answer: Carabao
- What is the national animal of Scotland? You will not find it in any taxonomy charts.
Answer: Unicorn
- Despite being native to Africa and Asia, which large animal features in the name of Denmark’s highest-ranked honor?
Answer: Elephant
- Commonly called “fixing” or “desexing,” what is the proper term for removing the testes of a male animal (castrate) and the ovaries and uterus of a female animal (spay)?
Answer: Neuter
Answer: McRib
- Despite being the title character, what Disney animal has no speaking lines throughout the film? The film clocks in at just over one hour long, making it one of Disney's shortest feature films.
Answer: Dumbo
- The largest canine in South America, which long-legged animal is known for its distinctive odour, earning it the nickname “skunk wolf.”
Answer: Maned wolf
- “Hot spots” is a more casual name for which condition that causes sores on an animal’s skin?
Answer: Acute Moist Dermatitis
- Though poisonous to most other mammals, a koala's diet primarily consists of leaves from what tree in the myrtle family?
Answer: Eucalyptus
- What type of animal sits in the corner whispering "Hush" in the 1947 children’s book "Goodnight Moon?"
Answer: Rabbit
- Group names for animals are a common trivia fact since they can be so...peculiar. There's a cackle of hyenas, a pandemonium of parrots, and a conspiracy of lemurs. What is the legislative name for a group of owls?
Answer: Parliament
- Originating in Mexico, the axolotl is a paedomorphic species of which order of amphibians?
Answer: Salamander
- Which marine-dwelling bacteria is named for its blue hue and can produce toxins that are dangerous for humans and animals (who can easily stumble upon it in a lake)?
Answer: Cyanobacteria
- Which deepwater aquatic animal found over 600 meters below sea level, named for its gelatinous appearance when pulled to the surface, was first discovered off New Zealand in 2003? Often the bycatch of bottom-trawling fishing, there are estimated to be fewer than 450 specimens left in the wild.
Answer: Smoothhead blobfish
- Native to Turkey and Iran, the mouflon is a wild form of which domesticated animal?
Answer: Sheep
- For Lunar New Year and other Chinese festivals, it's tradition for performers to dance in pairs dressed as what feline animal that symbolizes power and wisdom?
Answer: Lion
- In ecosystems, the way different animals eat each other can be represented in a chart. Different from a food chain, name this chart made up of all the food chains in an ecosystem.
Answer: Food Web
- The African grey variety of what tropical bird will selflessly help each other find food?
Answer: Parrot
- Distinct from horns or antlers, "ossicones" is the name given to bony appendages on the heads of male okapi and what other animal, which is the closest living relative to the okapi?
Answer: Giraffes
- Which well-insured critter has teeny tiny hairs on their feet that help them stick to the surfaces they’re climbing?
Answer: Gecko
- What type of fish, “r”ay-finned members of the family Echeneidae, use suction to hold onto larger marine animals, and are sometimes referred to as suckerfish? Their name comes from the Latin for “delay”.
Answer: Remora
- Which term is used to describe the ability of certain animals (like sharks) to sense electrostatic fields around them?
Answer: Electroreception
- Hooded, Bearded, Ringed, and Spotted are all species of what marine animals also known as pinnipeds?
Answer: Seals
- If you see an armadillo in the wild, no matter how cute it seems, don't touch it! Armadillos are one of the only North American mammals besides humans known to carry what disease, also known as Hansen's disease?
Answer: Leprosy
- Toolka is the indigenous Wemba Wemba name of the Cape Barren goose in the southern portion of what very southern island nation?
Answer: Australia
- The glans is the visible portion of what sex organ that is present in mammals, ostriches, and a few other animals?
Answer: Clitoris
- What word, which also describes something a barber might use, is used to refer to the fleshy, red growth found on top of the heads of chickens and turkeys?
Answer: Comb
- An apex predator due to its size, the Komodo dragon gets its name from an island in which country?
Answer: Indonesia
- Sharing its name with an animal, what 40-mile range in the Rocky Mountains contains five peaks over 14,000ft, the tallest of which is Mount Lincoln?
Answer: The Mosquito Range
- The Indonesian Ayam Cemani breed of chicken, often called the most expensive chicken in the world, is specifically bred for its colouring. The feathers, beak, feet, and even meat of the Ayam Cemani chicken are what colour?
Answer: Black
- What foodstuff precedes “bear” in the name of an arboreal mammal, also known as the kinkajou?
Answer: Honey
- Also known as water bears or moss piglets, what eight-legged micro-animal has a name that means "slow stepper" in Latin?
Answer: Tardigrade
- With an average lifespan of 72.6 years, what animal has the longest lifespan of all the primates?
Answer: Humans
- What breed of terrier dog gets it name from the dividing line between England and Scotland, in the Cheviot Hills?
Answer: Border Terrier
- What tube-like organ (generally more ball shaped on a human) makes up one to five percent of an owl's bodyweight, depending on species?
Answer: The eye
- Which bird species has the scientific name pica pica? The eating disorder pica, the consumption of inedible objects, also gets its name from this bird's large and indiscriminate appetite.
Answer: Magpie
- Which African animal that feeds on ants and terminates has a name that derives from the Afrikaans meaning “earth pig?”
Answer: Aardvark
- Sobek, an Egyptian commonly referred to in Egyptian texts, is commonly depicted having the head of what animal? This god is associated with fertility and military prowess.
Answer: Crocodile
- "Little Jerry" was a pet of Kramer's. What type of animal was "Little Jerry?"
Answer: Rooster
- Found in spiders, as well as some species of butterfly and moth, a spinneret is an organ that is responsible for the production of which substance?
Answer: Silk
- The genus Micrathene, a combination of the Greek word for small and the Goddess Athene, was introduced specifically for what is currently the world's smallest owl. Taking its name from a similarly small mythical humanlike being, which owl is the only one that belongs to the Micrathene genus?
Answer: Elf Owl
- In the early 1900s, there was a campaign to bring which animals to America from Africa and let them live in the Louisiana bayous to be raised for meat? (Hint: The NYT was into the idea, referring to the creatures as “lake cow bacon”)
Answer: Hippos
- What two-word herbivorous burrowing rodents of North America, of the family Sciuridae, are known to kiss, by what of touching their front teeth together?
Answer: Prairie Dogs
- Garuda, one of the national symbols of Indonesia, is the animal ridden by what Hindu god known as "the preserver?"
Answer: Vishnu
- In the poem, "The Owl and the Pussycat" by Edward Lear, the Owl obtained a ring for the Pussycat from the nose of what animal?
Answer: Piggywig
- In what city of Texas did it rain fish in 2021? The phenomenon is called "animal rain," occur when small animals are swept up in waterspouts and then come down when it rains.
Answer: Texarkana, TX
- They are "papillon" in French, "schmetterling" in German, and "farfalla" in Italian. What "lepidopteran" insect is responsible for the death of Paul Bäumer in the 1930 version of All Quiet on the Western Front?
Answer: Butterfly
- Which acid with the formula HCOOH, whose name derives from the Latin for “ant,” is found in most ants and some stingless bees, as well as in stinging nettles?
Answer: Formic acid
- Found in South America, the northern pudu is the smallest species belonging to which mammalian family? Other South American species in this family include marsh, brocket and pampas.
Answer: Deer
- Have you heard Bambi's first word was a 4-letter word? Okay...not that kind of 4-letter word. When Thumper teaches Bambi to talk, what animal does Bambi utter first?
Answer: Bird
- What is the word that describes fish that are born in fresh water, live out their lives in the ocean, and return to rivers and creeks to spawn? Salmon and striped bass are examples of this type of fish.
Answer: Anadromous
- The blue whale is the largest animal on the planet. What species of whale, named after a part of its body, is the second largest?
Answer: Fin Whale
- In the Grimm brothers' fairy tale "The Goose Girl," what kind of animal is Falada, who talks to the title character even after his death?
Answer: Horse
- The Shalihotra Samhita was an Indian veterinary treatise from the 3rd century BC, an edict from what emperor of the Mauryan dynasty? This “A” emperor promised that medicine would be available to both people and animals.
Answer: Ashoka
- In 2013, there was an animal shot in Hart County that was the first verified sighting of the species in Kentucky in modern times. What was the animal?
Answer: Gray wolf
- For over 50 years, researchers have studied the predator-prey relationship between wolves and what animal on secluded Isle Royale National Park?
Answer: Moose
- Due to being classified as prey, and thus needing extra defensive abilities, sheep and goats' eyes have pupils of what shape?
Answer: Rectangle
- Deriving from the Latin words for "fin" and "foot," what is the name of the order of carnivorous, flippered mammals that includes seals and walruses?
Answer: Pinniped
- An emblem of the island nation to which it is endemic, which non-flying bird is unique in having external nostrils at the tip of its beak?
Answer: Kiwi
- Dating back to 3600 BCE in Persia, water-filled "bladder" mattresses were made from an oft-discarded organ of a particular domesticated animal. What is this animal?
Answer: Goat
- Clay Henry III is the third non-human mayor of Terlingua, Texas since the 1980s. What type of animal is he?
Answer: Goat
- Also called “lab-grown” meat or “cultured” meat, what “meat of the future” with a potentially lower carbon footprint than traditional meat uses cells from a live animal to grow meat in a lab rather than slaughtering and butchering?
Answer: Cultivated
- What animal, related to the mongoose, is only found in the Madagascar Islands and is the main natural predator of the lemur?
Answer: The Fossa
- Closely related to the llama, what is the name of the wild camelid native to South America that's young are called “chulengos?” The only other wild camelid native to South America is the vicuña.
Answer: Guanaco
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About the Author
Eli Robinson is the Chief Trivia Officer at Water Cooler Trivia. He was once in a Bruce Springsteen cover band called F Street Band.
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