Animal Wise Book By Virginia Morell! Trivia Quiz

2.

What animal can make complex movements without practice by watching a more skilled animal of its species do it first?

Chimpanzees
Rats
Parrots
Archerfish

Correct Answer

A. Archerfish

Explanation

These fish can learn to shoot water at difficult targets by visualizing themselves making the shot. This would be the equivalent of watching Kobe Bryant dunk a basketball a hundred times and being able to do it yourself afterward!

Photo Credit: Tanja Fuchsberger and Stefan Schuster.

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3.

What animal can understand some words and their meanings?

Fish
Parrots
Rats
Crows and Rooks

Correct Answer

A. Parrots

Explanation

Some captive parrots do not simply mimic their owners’ words, but they have the ability to understand spoken words and can use these to communicate their basic understanding of the world.

Alex the Grey Parrot. Photo Credit: Irene Pepperberg.

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4.

What animals can build and use complex tools?

Crows and Rooks
Ants
Archerfish
Parrotlets

Correct Answer

A. Crows and Rooks

Explanation

Several studies have shown that these birds possess the ability to create different types of tools from available resources. For example, crows can bend straight wires into hooks to get at food, and rooks have demonstrated a basic understanding of physics by employing the principles of water displacement to better access food.

Betty using the tool she invented and made to fetch a pail of meat!
Photo Credit: Animal Behaviour Research Group, Oxford.

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5.

What often hunted and farmed animal can experience emotions, is self-aware, and is conscious?

Rats
Ants
Parrotlets
Fish

Correct Answer

A. Fish

Explanation

In the past, researchers believed that fish had very simple brains. However, new studies have found that fish not only feel pain but also can suffer, which indicates a psychological process.

Photo Credit: Gürkan Sengün / CC -BY -SA-3.0.

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6.

What animal has a way of communicating that in some ways resembles human language?

Dogs
Archerfish
Rats
Parrotlets

Correct Answer

A. Parrotlets

Explanation

These birds have calls that serve as names, and can articulate their own names as well as others’. This has led researchers to believe that they may have something like conversations with one another.

Photo Credit: Karl Berg

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7.

What animal surprisingly can giggle and even understands the concept of playtime?

Rats
Parrots
Fish
Crows and Rooks

Correct Answer

A. Rats

Explanation

Despite their short life span, rats can actually laugh and recognize playtime. Their need to play shows that this trait may be a primal necessity of many animals.

Photo Credit: ©iStockphoto.com/Argument.

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8.

What animal understands death and grieves for family members that have been lost?

Rats
Elephants
Dogs
Fish

Correct Answer

A. Elephants

Explanation

These highly social and family-oriented animals can recognize their own dead and even bury their family members (there have been reports of elephants doing this to human bodies as well). Elephants have also been seen grieving silently over the bodies of their clan members. Chimpanzees, blue jays, and pandas, as well as many other species, also grieve for their dead.

Photo Credit: Virginia Morell.

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9.

What animal can recognize itself in a mirror as an individual?

Archerfish
Ants
Parrotlets
Dolphins

Correct Answer

A. Dolphins

Explanation

Dolphins’ ability to recognize themselves means they are self-aware, and understand the concepts of “self” and “others.” The ability to distinguish oneself from others is thought to be linked to empathy – to understanding that another individual may be hurt, even if you are not. It may be why dolphins have sometimes protected the lives of humans when in danger. Unrelated dolphins also cooperate on behalf of one another, a behavior rarely seen in the animal kingdom. All the great apes—as well as elephants and magpies—also recognize themselves in mirrors.

Photo Credit: Richard Connor, The Dolphin Project.

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10.

What animal has a short-term memory that sometimes surpasses that of humans?

Dogs
Chimpanzees
Dolphins
Parrots

Correct Answer

A. Chimpanzees

Explanation

Studies have shown that in some tests, these primates can hold onto a short term memory far longer than humans can. In addition, chimpanzees can learn their cultural traditions through observation and spread these traditions to other populations.

Ayumu solving a memory test.
Photo Credit: Tetsuro Matsuzawa, Kyoto Primate Research Institute.

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11.

What furry friend of ours can communicate with humans in ways that even primates cannot?

Rats
Cats
Dogs
Hamsters

Correct Answer

A. Dogs

Explanation

Because of the close relationships between dogs and humans over a long period of time, domestic dogs have developed the ability to connect nonverbally with humans and have a deep desire to work with us. Studies have shown that some dogs can hear a word once or twice and know that the word stands for something.

Photo Credit: Michael McRae.

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Animal Wise Book By Virginia Morell! Trivia Quiz

What was one of the first non-human animals found with the ability to teach?

Quiz Preview

What animal can make complex movements without practice by watching a more skilled animal of its species do it first?

What animal can understand some words and their meanings?

What animals can build and use complex tools?

What often hunted and farmed animal can experience emotions, is self-aware, and is conscious?

What animal has a way of communicating that in some ways resembles human language?

What animal surprisingly can giggle and even understands the concept of playtime?

What animal understands death and grieves for family members that have been lost?

What animal can recognize itself in a mirror as an individual?

What animal has a short-term memory that sometimes surpasses that of humans?

What furry friend of ours can communicate with humans in ways that even primates cannot?