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Animal General Knowledge Quizzes and Answers
Owl Quiz – Animal General Knowledge Quizzes and Answers Part 1
1. Where did the extinct giant owl Ornimegalonyx Oteroi live?
Answer: Cuba.
Ornimegalonyx lived in the late Pleistocene and stood nearly four feet (1.2 meters) tall.
2. True or False: Some species of owls have one ear placed higher than the other on their skull.
Answer: True.
This adaptation, which occurs in barn owls and some other species that hunt at night, is thought to help owls pinpoint the location of sounds. The asymmetry is not visible, because the ears are covered with feathers.
3. If somebody calls you an owl (pöllö) in Finnish, what are they saying about you?
Answer: You’re stupid.
Although owls are a symbol of wisdom in many cultures, they’re also associated with stupidity in some cultures. In Finland, the word for “owl” also means “stupid,” possibly because owls’ wide-open eyes seem to give them a simpleminded appearance.
4. Which fictional hero has an owl named Hedwig?
Answer: Harry Potter.
In the Harry Potter books and films, owls are used to carry messages and packages.
5. According to Pliny the Elder, writing in 77 CE, were owls generally considered to be good omens or bad omens?
Answer: Bad omens.
In his Natural History, Pliny wrote, “The horned owl is especially funereal, and is greatly abhorred in all auspices of a public nature: it inhabits deserted places, and not only desolate spots, but those of a frightful and inaccessible nature: the monster of the night, its voice is heard, not with any tuneful note, but emitting a sort of shriek. Hence it is that it is looked upon as a direful omen to see it in a city, or even so much as in the day-time.” (Natural History 10.16)
6. True or False: Owls are closely related to hawks, eagles, and falcons.
Answer: False.
Although owls and other birds of prey have some common features, these are thought to be the result of convergent evolution rather than common ancestry. Owls are believed to be closely related to the Caprimulgiformes (nightjars and nighthawks).
Cat Quiz – Animal General Knowledge Quizzes and Answers Part 2
7. Which Egyptian goddess is pictured as a cat or as a woman with the head of a cat?
Answer: Bastet.
Bastet, by the way, is often pictured holding a musical instrument called a sistrum.
8. Which composer and lyricist wrote the musical Cats?
Answer: Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Cats is based on T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. The musical debuted in 1981.
9. Fact or Fiction: Too much catnip can be harmful to a cat.
Answer: Fiction.
The catnip plant, which is a member of the mint family, is not addictive or harmful to cats.
10. How many breeds of cats are recognized by the Cat Fanciers’ Association?
Answer: About 40.
As of 2016, the CFA recognizes 42 cat breeds.
11. Which special physical trait does a so-called “Hemingway cat” possess?
Answer: Extra toes.
Polydactyly—meaning extra toes—is a relatively common abnormality in cats. Hemingway owned a six-toed cat, and today dozens of cats with polydactyly live on the grounds of his home and museum in Florida.
12. About how fast can a domestic cat run in short bursts?
Answer: 30 miles per hour.
Domestic cats have been clocked at 30 miles per hour over short distances. That’s about the same top speed as the fastest human sprinters.
13. Fact or Fiction: All tortoiseshell cats are male.
Answer: Fiction.
Because two X chromosomes are necessary to produce tortoiseshell cats’ mix of black and orange fur, nearly all tortoiseshell cats are female.
14. Which lexicographer defined cat as “a deceitful animal, and when enraged, extremely spiteful”?
Answer: Noah Webster.
The definition appeared in Webster’s An American Dictionary of the English Language, published in 1828.
Dogs Quiz – Animal General Knowledge Quizzes and Answers Part 3
15. Which dog breed became the most-popular dog breed in the United States in the early 1990s and held the title for more than a quarter of a century?
Answer: Labrador retriever.
Intelligent and even-tempered, Labrador retrievers make good pets and are used in military and police work and as guide dogs for the blind.
16. Fact or Fiction: Dachshunds have short legs because they were bred to hunt animals that live in burrows.
Answer: Fact.
Dachshunds’ short legs and long bodies allowed them to pursue animals such as badgers into burrows and tunnels.
17. Fact or Fiction: There are 319 bones in a normal dog’s skeleton.
Answer: Fact.
A dog born without a tail, or one whose tail has been removed, will have fewer.
18. Fact or Fiction: A dog’s sense of taste is more developed than a human’s.
Answer: Fiction.
Humans have around 9,000 taste buds on average, while dogs generally have fewer than 2,000. That may be why dogs will eat things that would be too disgusting for any human to touch.
19. Which country is the Akita most closely associated with?
Answer: Japan.
The Akita breed originated in the mountains of northern Japan and was designated a “natural monument” by the Japanese government in 1931.
20. About how many breeds of purebred dogs does the American Kennel Club recognize?
Answer: About 200.
The 188th and 189th breeds, the American hairless and the Sloughi, received formal recognition in 2016.
