Q 01/05

Which Surrealist painter walked a giant anteater on a leash out of a Paris Metro station in 1969?

A) Salvador Dalí

B) René Magritte

C) Max Ernst

D) Joan Miró

Answer · why

A) Salvador Dalí

Salvador Dalí held the leash in what was a staged photo stunt, and the animal was most likely borrowed from a zoo, not kept as a pet.

Q 02/05

Which feature of nearly every other mammal's mouth is completely missing in all anteaters, large and small?

A) Lips

B) Teeth

C) Gums

D) Palate

Answer · why

B) Teeth

Teeth are absent in every anteater, so insects are crushed against the roof of the mouth and then pulverised by a very muscular stomach.

Q 03/05

Which part of its front feet does a giant anteater walk on, keeping its long claws tucked away?

A) Heels

B) Palms

C) Knuckles

D) Fingertips

Answer · why

C) Knuckles

Knuckles take the weight, as they do for gorillas and chimpanzees, so the claws stay curled up and sharp for ripping into nests.

Q 04/05

Feeding for only about a minute at each nest, a giant anteater can still eat roughly how many insects a day?

A) 30,000

B) 300,000

C) 3,000,000

D) 30,000,000

Answer · why

A) 30,000

30,000 or so ants and termites vanish in a day, yet each nest loses only a small share before the raider moves on to the next one.

Q 05/05

Where does a baby giant anteater spend much of its first year, its stripe lined up with its mother's?

A) In a leaf-lined burrow

B) Hanging from her tail

C) In a grass nest

D) Riding on her back

Answer · why

D) Riding on her back

Riding on her back, the youngster blends its black-and-white stripe into hers, so the pair look like one larger animal to a predator.