Q 01/05

Bats are the only mammals capable of what?

A) Echolocation

B) Powered flight

C) Hibernation

D) Seeing in the dark

Answer · why

B) Powered flight

Powered flight is the bats' alone: flying squirrels, despite the name, can only glide from tree to tree, while a bat flaps a wing built from its own h...

Q 02/05

Bats are the second-largest order of mammals, with more than 1,400 species, behind only which group?

A) Primates

B) Rodents

C) Marsupials

D) Carnivores

Answer · why

B) Rodents

Rodents make up about 40% of all mammal species and bats about another 20%, so more than half of the world's mammals are one or the other.

Q 03/05

Of more than 1,400 bat species, how many feed only on blood?

A) One

B) Three

C) Twelve

D) About fifty

Answer · why

B) Three

Three: the common, hairy-legged and white-winged vampire bats, all in Latin America. A vampire that fails to feed can beg from a roost-mate, which bri...

Q 04/05

What is draculin, found in vampire bat saliva?

A) A venom

B) An anticoagulant

C) A sedative

D) A digestive enzyme

Answer · why

B) An anticoagulant

An anticoagulant: draculin blocks two of the blood's clotting factors, so the small bite keeps flowing while the bat laps up its meal.

Q 05/05

Spiders, scorpions and ticks all belong to which class of animals?

A) Crustaceans

B) Myriapods

C) Arachnids

D) Molluscs

Answer · why

C) Arachnids

Arachnids. A spider straightens its legs not with muscle but by pumping fluid into them like a hydraulic ram, which is why the legs fold inward when t...