Q 01/05

The fennec fox makes its home across which vast desert?

A) Kalahari

B) Sahara

C) Gobi

D) Namib

Answer · why

B) Sahara

The Sahara suits the fennec: it settles in sandier country with a more extreme climate than the region's other wild canids tend to use.

Q 02/05

Besides tracking prey under the sand, what second job do a fennec fox's enormous ears do?

A) Storing spare water

B) Shading its eyes

C) Signaling to rivals

D) Releasing body heat

Answer · why

D) Releasing body heat

Releasing body heat keeps the fox cool, and no member of its family has bigger ears for its size: they can grow to six inches long.

Q 03/05

Just 14 to 16 inches long, the fennec fox is the smallest wild member of which animal family?

A) Dogs

B) Cats

C) Weasels

D) Civets

Answer · why

A) Dogs

Dogs, wolves, coyotes and jackals all sit with the foxes in the family Canidae, where a grown fennec is the lightweight at two to three pounds.

Q 04/05

When the desert turns scorching, a fennec fox keeps cool by doing what up to 690 times a minute?

A) Blinking

B) Ear flapping

C) Panting

D) Tail wagging

Answer · why

C) Panting

Panting is the fennec's emergency cooling system: its breathing climbs from a resting 23 breaths a minute to as many as 690.

Q 05/05

What covers the soles of a fennec fox's feet, working like snowshoes on burning sand?

A) Thick fur

B) Hard scales

C) Rubbery skin

D) Bony plates

Answer · why

A) Thick fur

Thick fur on the footpads gives grip on loose dunes and shields the skin from ground that can be extremely hot.