155 Fun Animal Trivia Questions For Animal Lovers

Animal lovers, this one’s for you! This article contains our favorite animal trivia questions with accompanying answers.

Test your knowledge of the animal kingdom with questions about popular pets, wild animals, insects, and more.

So, why are we such huge fans of animal trivia? Well, it’s honestly a great way to learn about all the different animals that walk this wonderful planet Earth! It can be used as a fun way to teach kids about animals, or as a way to test your knowledge–even as an adult!

Whether you’re an aspiring zoologist or just an animal enthusiast, these trivia questions are sure to stump and educate you. Oh, and if you’re looking for animal trivia that’s perfect for kids, we’ve got a separate article for just that!

You ready? Let’s dive right into some good ol’ animal trivia then!

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Fun Animal Trivia Questions and Answers

What kind of mollusk holds a pearl in its shell?

Answer: An oyster.

How many bones do sharks have in total?

Answer: 0.

What do you call a baby cow?

Answer: A calf.

Can you name the national dog breed of France?

Answer: Poodle.

What is the only mammal that can fly?

Answer: The bat.

What is the largest animal in the world?

Answer: Blue whale.

What animal has the warmest pelt of any animal found in the Arctic, enduring temperatures as low as -158°F (-70°C)?

Answer: Arctic fox.

What is the tallest animal in the world?

Answer: Giraffe.

Which type of fish is Nemo?

Answer: A clownfish.

What animal species is the only male that gets pregnant?

Answer: Seahorse.

Name the animal with the largest eyes.

Answer: Giant Squid.

What is another name for a female deer?

Answer: Doe.

Which bird can learn to mimic human speech?

Answer: Parrots.

Name the country that has Unicorn as its national animal.

Answer: Scotland.

Which sea creature has three hearts?

Answer: Octopus.

What was the most popular dog breed in the United States in 2015, according to the American Kennel Club?

Answer: The Labrador Retriever (as of 2015, it had held this title for 24 years).

From which southern national park has more than 2,000 Burmese pythons been captured and removed since 2002?

Answer: Everglades National Park.

What kind of animals’ poop do dung beetles seem to prefer–carnivores, herbivores, or omnivores?

Answer: Omnivores.

Some species of what desert-dwelling creature can survive extreme heat, freezing temperatures, floods, and even famine?

Answer: Scorpion.

What creatures were irrefutably linked as descendants of dinosaurs when amino acids were extracted from a T. rex bone in 2005?

Answer: Birds (the DNA material resembled that of modern-day chickens).

What is the mascot of the World Wildlife Federation?

Answer: Giant panda.

What river is home to the largest freshwater fish in the world–Zambezi, Yangtze, or Mekong?

Answer: Mekong (the fish is called the Mekong giant catfish, and it can weigh over 600 pounds).

The remains of which Ice Age creature were unearthed by construction workers in 2005 in Southern California?

Answer: Mammoth.

On which continent did the Pyrenean ibex, a wild goat, become extinct in 2000–Africa, Asia, or Europe?

Answer: Europe, it was killed by a falling tree in Northern Spain.

Which animal kills the most humans annually? Is it bees, mosquitoes, sharks, or alligators?

Answer: Mosquitoes.

Which animals star in the half-time show of the annual Puppy Bowl, which airs on Super Bowl Sunday?

Answer: Kittens.

Growing up to 18 meters long, which is the world’s largest living fish?

Answer: A whale shark.

What type of bug was flown in from France to Australia in 2014 to help dispose of cattle droppings, which attracted millions of flies?

Answer: Dung beetles.

Which butterfly species’ population has decreased by about 90% in the past 25 years, mainly due to a milkweed shortage?

Answer: Monarch butterfly.

The nose with the most sensitive sense of smell in the animal kingdom belongs to the _______.

Answer: African elephant.

_____ have one of the largest brains relative to body mass in the animal kingdom, which is thought to be partly responsible for the mammals’ highly developed intellect.

Answer: Dolphins.

Can you name at least 3 animals known to have high intelligence in the animal kingdom?

Answer: Dolphins, chimpanzees, elephants, pigs, ravens, and octopi.

What country is home to more wild tigers than any other country?

Answer: India.

Can you name two reasons why cats purr?

Answer: When they are happy, want food, feel nervous, or are in pain.

What type of deep-sea fish is known for their dorsal spines which dangle a fleshy and often bioluminescent “bait” to attract prey?

Answer: Anglerfish

What is the name of a whole genus of deep-sea octopuses named for a Disney protagonist, due to their fins resembling elephant ears?

Answer: Dumbo octopus.

True or false: Bats are blind, which is why they use echolocation to hunt.

Answer: False. Bats can see just fine, and while it’s true that they rely more on sound than sight, some fruit bats don’t echolocate at all and certain species can even see UV light.

Fireflies are not actually flies — instead, they are what?

Answer: Beetles; fireflies and other beetles have hardened wing covers, called elytra.

If you live in the American West or New England, you likely know fireflies as “fireflies.” Those in the Midwest and South, however, call these same creatures what?

Answer: “Lightning bugs”. Throughout history, they have also been called fireworms, salamander flies, firebugs, glow flies, lightning beetles, and meadow flies.

Just like humans, this SMALL animal also giggles when tickled. What animal is it?

Answer: The rat.

What color is associated with royalty thanks to a rare mollusk?

Answer: Purple. Creating a rich, resilient purple dye was an extremely expensive process. The dye could only be made from the dried mucus glands of murex shellfish found near the ancient Phoenician town of Tyre on the Mediterranean (now part of Lebanon).

True or false: Nearly all mammals hiccup.

Answer: True. Most (if not all) air-breathing mammals suffer this same periodic annoyance. However, scientists have not observed hiccups in reptiles, amphibians, or birds.

People with arachnophobia are scared of which of these multi-legged creatures?

Answer: Spiders.

Which sea creature swims in an upright position?

Answer: Seahorse.

What gives flamingos their pink color? Is it their diet, exposure to the sun, or genetics?

Answer: Their diet.

Where was the first zoo in the United States opened?

Answer: Philadelphia.

What is the main diet of the mole?

Answer: Earthworms.

Himalayan, Persian, and Ragdoll are breeds of which animal?

Answer: Domestic cats.

Indiana Jones is famously an ophidiophobe, having a fear of what?

Answer: Snakes.

Which farmyard animal comes out top in intelligence tests?

Answer: Pig.

What is the largest living species of lizard?

Answer: Komodo dragon.

What animal is on the emblem of Great Britain?

Answer: A lion.

What animal is classified as the only marsupial in the United States?

Answer: Opossum.

According to scientists, an attack on a person by which of these animals is most likely to kill the person– a shark, grizzly bear, tiger, or hippo?

Answer: Hippo.

What name is given to an adult female sheep?

Answer: Ewe.

What kind of animal is a sea monkey?

Answer: A brine shrimp.

In what country would you find a kiwi bird?

Answer: New Zealand.

How many stomachs does a cow have?

Answer: Four.

What sense don’t dolphins have?

Answer: Smell.

How many eyes does a bee have?

Answer: 5. Bees have five eyes – two in the front and three small eyes on top of their heads.

Basenji, Sheltie, and Samoyed are breeds of what animal?

Answer: Dogs.

Alpacas are very similar to, and often confused with which animals?

Answer: Llamas.

Known for its intelligence, which dog breed has been found capable of understanding more than a thousand words? Is it Border Collie, Cocker Spaniel, Labrador, or French Bulldog?

Answer: Border Collie.

What animal has the strongest recorded jaw strength?

Answer: Saltwater crocodile.

Rabies, which kills about 59,000 people a year, is transmitted almost entirely by which animal?

Answer: Dogs.

What name is given to the small crustaceans that make up most of the diet of the blue whale?

Answer: Krill.

Which part of an elephant’s body has the most muscles?

Answer: Trunk.

If you were planning a trip to China to see the Giant Panda bears, what city would you add to your travel itinerary?

Answer: Chengdu, China.

Which is the tiniest known type of animal with a backbone?

Answer: A frog.

In Medieval Europe, people thought witches turned themselves into this animal to fly around. What is this animal?

Answer: Owls.

Which large marine mammals are sometimes known as sea cows?

Answer: Manatees.

What is the Japanese word for “dog”?

Answer: Inu.

How many legs does a spider have?

Answer: 8.

The name of which African animal means “river horse”?

Answer: Hippopotamus.

What is the only type of animal that has the ability to live forever?

Answer: The jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii is the only species that’s been called ‘biologically immortal’.

How many legs do shrimp have?

Answer: Ten.

How do prairie dogs greet each other?

Answer: By kissing.

What type of animal is a Tasmanian Devil?

Answer: Marsupial.

What is the fastest-flying bird in the world?

Answer: The Peregrine Falcon is indisputably the fastest bird, with speeds around 200 to 240 mph when diving.

Black cats are known for what superstitious belief?

Answer: Bringing bad luck.

Which country’s national animal is a unicorn?

Answer: Scotland.

Before introducing Mickey Mouse, Walt Disney created a successful animated character named Oswald. What type of animal is Oswald?

Answer: Rabbit. 

What animal is named Richard Parker in The Life of Pi, a novel that was eventually made into a 2012 film?

Answer: Tiger.

In which country are lemurs found in nature?

Answer: Madagascar.

Tarsier, Marmoset, and Tamarin are all breeds of what animal?

Answer: Monkey.

Arabian, Appaloosa, Haflinger, and Fjord are all breeds of what animal?

Answer: Horses.

What type of animal is Timon in The Lion King?

Answer: A meerkat.

What is the name of the only bird that can fly backwards?

Answer: The hummingbird.

Which type of whale possesses a large ‘tusk’ from a protruding canine tooth?

Answer: Narwhal.

How long do elephant pregnancies last?

Answer: 22 months.

How do polar bears greet each other?

Answer: By touching noses.

Which insect bites can lead to malaria?

Answer: Mosquitoes.

What body part on a dog can be used for identification, almost like a human fingerprint?

Answer: Their nose.

Which breed of dog is the most popular breed used globally today as guide dogs?

Answer: Labrador Retriever.

What animal is the closest living relative to the T-Rex dinosaur?

Answer: Chickens.

Emperor Kuzco turns into what animal in The Emperor’s New Groove?

Answer: Llama.

What color is a giraffe’s tongue?

Answer: It can be a hue of black, blue or purple with a pink base. 

A dog sweats through which part of its body?

Answer: Its paws.

How do sea otters prevent themselves from drifting apart while they sleep?

Answer: They hold hands.

A killer whale is not actually a whale, but a what?

Answer: Dolphin.

How do fish breathe underwater?

Answer: They use their gills.

Generally, you shouldn’t pet a cat you don’t know on which of its body parts?

Answer: On their stomachs, legs, or tail.

What is the favorite dog breed of the Queen of England, Elizabeth II?

Answer: Corgi.

Which of the following dog breeds is the smallest–Dachshund, Pomeranian, Chihuahua, or Bichon Frise?

Answer: Chihuahua.

I eat zebras and wildebeests. I live in groups called “prides” and can be found in the wild in Africa and India. What am I?

Answer: A lion.

I originated from Southern China, weigh up to 660lbs, and have stripes. What am I?

Answer: A tiger.

I live in rainforests and grasslands. I can understand human language, can be ticklish, and can laugh. What am I?

Answer: A chimpanzee.

What are adult male gorillas called?

Answer: Silverbacks.

Which animal warms its baby eggs on its feet?

Answer: Emperor penguins.

In what country can spider monkeys be found?

Answer: South America.

What animal can you expect to find roaming all around the pedestrian streets of Nara, Japan?

Answer: Deer.

Which bird is a universal symbol of peace?

Answer: A dove.

A mandrill is a type of what animal?

Answer: Monkey.

What sea creature keeps growing till their death?

Answer: Lobsters.

Catfish have taste buds on their __.

Answer: Whiskers.

True or false: “Dinosaur” comes from Greek words that mean “friendly lizard”.

Answer: False. The word actually comes from Greek words that mean “terrible lizard.”

Tasmanian devils, koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, and wombats can only be found in which country?

Answer: Australia.

Male rats are referred to as what?

Answer: Bucks.

What is the name of the animal that is known for its ability to swim and is often called a “sea cow”?

Answer: Manatee.

What is the world’s largest living reptile?

Answer: Saltwater Crocodile

What color is an albino crocodile?

Answer: White. This condition is caused by a genetic mutation that prevents the production of melanin, the pigment responsible for color in animals.

What are the three species of elephants in the world?

Answer: African Savanna (Bush), African Forest, and Asian. Originally, we had what we knew as the African Elephant and the Asian Elephant. Following new genetic research, the African elephant was recently split into two different species, the African forest elephant and the African savanna elephant.

What is the largest living primate?

Answer: Gorilla

What is the only mammal capable of laying eggs?

Answer: Platypus

What is the world’s largest rodent?

Answer: Capybara

How many legs does a lobster have?

Answer: Ten.

How many arms does a squid typically have?

Answer: Ten. Squids have eight arms and two longer tentacles, technically bringing their total appendages to ten.

How often do cheetahs need to drink water?

Answer: Once every three to four days

How can you determine the age of a blue whale?

Answer: By looking at the wax plug in its ear

How quickly can baby elephants stand after being born?

Answer: Within 20 minutes

Why might you not feel a vampire bat’s bite?

Answer: Their saliva dulls pain

What percentage of DNA do humans share with chimpanzees?

Answer: 98.8%

What are rhinoceros horns made from?

Answer: Compacted hair

What are hippos’ closest living relatives?

Answer: Whales, dolphins, and porpoises

What mammal has the densest fur?

Answer: Sea otters

What is a group of sharks called?

Answer: A school or a shoal

What color is a polar bear’s fur?

Answer: Transparent. Polar bears are not really white. Their fur is actually transparent.

Which term is used to refer to baby sharks?

• a) Cub
• b) Foal
• c) Pup
• d) Gosling

Answer: Pup. Pup is also used to describe baby dogs, seals, or wolves.

What famous 1975 thriller film is often credited with creating a fear of sharks among moviegoers?

Answer: Jaws

Which of a dog’s senses is strongest–is it sight, sound, smell, or taste?

Answer: Smell; dogs can smell thousands of times better than humans.

Who has more tastebuds, humans or dogs?

Answer: Humans (dogs have approximately one-sixth of the taste buds humans have).

Catfish have taste buds on their __.

Answer: Whiskers.

How many hours does a koala usually sleep?

Answer: Koalas sleep for 18 to 22 hours a day.

What animal’s poop is shaped like cubes?

Answer: The wombat.

In Thailand, which animal’s poop is used to make paper?

Answer: Elephants. It’s called Elephant POOPOOPAPER!

How many eyes does a bee have?

Answer: 5. Bees have five eyes – two in the front and three small eyes on top of their heads.

What color is hippopotamus milk?

Answer: Pink.

What body part do butterflies taste with?

Answer: Butterflies taste with their feet.

True or false: Snakes can see with their eyes closed.

Answer: True.

True or false: Only male mosquitos bite.

Answer: False, only female mosquitos bite.

True or false: Baby elephants suck on their trunks like human babies suck on pacifiers.

Answer: True.

What insect is known for its unique ability to rotate its head almost 180 degrees?

Answer: Praying Mantis

Which creature has the ability to regrow its lost limbs, making it a master of regeneration?

Answer: Axolotl (Mexican Salamander)

What bird, native to New Zealand, is flightless and known for its distinctive nocturnal call resembling a haunting scream?

Answer: Kiwi

Which lizard is capable of running on water due to its specialized feet and is often found in Southeast Asia?

Answer: Basilisk Lizard (Jesus Lizard)

What marine creature, often mistaken for a plant, has a mesmerizing dance-like movement and is a type of jellyfish?

Answer: Sea Slug (Nudibranch)

What mammal, native to Madagascar, is known for its unique appearance, with large, round eyes and a finger-like elongated third digit?

Answer: Aye-Aye

All cats are born with what color eyes?

Answer: Blue eyes.

Which type of fruit smells bad to cats to the point that they’ll stay away from it?

Answer: Cats really don’t like citrus, whether oranges, lemon, grapefruit, etc.

Read Next: The Ultimate Cat Trivia Quiz: 85 Questions For Feline Fanatics

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Best Trivia Games of 2024

Can’t get enough of the trivia goodness? Neither can we. If you’re looking for trivia games to play with friends/family, here are our favorite trivia board games on the market this year!

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So… how’d you do? These animal trivia questions and answers are a great way to test your knowledge about the wild world around us, and have some fun while you’re at it.

If you enjoyed this trivia post on your own, why not wrangle a group of friends together, grab some snacks, and put them to the test to see who knows the most about these topics?

Or, send this article directly to them and see how they do!

If you enjoyed reading this article, check out some of our other trivia topics and quizzes: