Beastly Biology
Which mammal lays eggs instead of giving birth?
Platypus
The platypus is a monotreme which are a category of egg-laying mammals. It's also one of the only mammals that produces venom.
What type of plant do peanuts grow on?
A. Tree
B. Bush
C. Underground Plant
Underground Plant
Peanuts aren't nuts at all. They are legumes, like beans, and they grow in pods underground.
What color is a flamingo's feathers when it's first born?
Gray or White
Flamingos are born without their pink color - they get it from eating shrimp and algae that are rich in carotenoids.
What is the largest organ in the human body?
Skin
Your skin protects you, helps control body temperature, and makes up about 16% of your entire body weight.
Which tiny organism makes bread dough rise?
Yeast
Yeast are single-celled fungi that produce carbon dioxide during fermentation, making bread light and fluffy.
What is the largest animal on Earth?
Blue Whale
Blue whales can grow over 100 feet long and weigh as much as 200 tons - much larger than any dinosaur that we have ever discovered.
Which plant is famous for trapping and "eating" insects?
Venus Flytrap
The Venus Flytrap snaps shut when trigger hairs are touched twice, trapping insects to digest for extra nutrients.
Which insect is known for eating its mate after mating?
Praying Mantis
Female mantises sometimes eat the male for extra nutrients - and he can keep mating even after losing his head.
Which muscle is the strongest in the human body by weight?
Jaw Muscle (Masseter)
The masseter can bite down with a force of over 200 pounds per square inch (psi).
Plasmodium, a single-celled parasite, is spread by mosquitos and causes what disease in humans?
Malaria
Plasmodium parasites are spread by mosquitos and invade red blood cells, causing malaria.
In 1932, Australia lost a war to what giant bird?
Emu
The "Great Emu War" was a real military operation where soldiers tried to control emu populations with machine guns. The emus outran and outsmarted them, and the military eventually gave up.
Which plant is used to make chocolate?
Cacao Tree
Chocolate comes from cacao seeds, which are fermented, dried, roasted, and ground into cocoa.
Which amphibian can regrow not just limbs, but its entire eye?
Salamander
Salamanders have extreme regenerative abilities. They can replace eyes, tails, jaws, parts of their brain, and even their heart!
How many taste buds does the average human have?
A. 500
B. 2,000
C. 10,000
About 10,000
Your taste buds are replaced every 1-2 weeks, and they detect all taste types - not just in separate "zones" on the tongue.
What do we call bacteria that can survive extreme heat, cold, and radiation?
Extremophiles
Extremophiles thrive in conditions that would kill most life, such as boiling hot springs or deep sea vents.
Which animal's fingerprints are so similar to humans that they can confuse crime scene investigators?
Koala
Koala fingerprints are nearly identical to ours - even under a microscope. Forensic experts have mistaken them for human prints at crime scenes.
Which plant can grow over a foot in a single day?
Bamboo
Some species of bamboo can grow more than 35 inches in 24 hours, making it one of the fastest-growing plants on Earth.
Which insect can survive for days after being decapitated?
Cockroach
Cockroaches don't rely on their head for breathing and their neck wounds seal quickly. However, they eventually die from dehydration or starvation.
Which part of the body has no blood supply and gets nutrients from tears instead?
Cornea
The clear front surface of your eye gets oxygen from the air and nutrients from your tears.
Phytoplankton in the ocean produce about half of the Earth's supply of what gas?
Oxygen
Through photosynthesis, microscopic phytoplankton make roughly half the oxygen we breathe.
Which mammal can hold its breath longer than a dolphin?
Sloth
Sloths can slow their heart rate to 1/3 of their normal rate, allowing them hold their breath for up to 40 minutes! This is much longer than the average 8-10 minutes of most dolphins.
Which plant's seeds can lie dormant for years, then suddenly grow after passing through an animal's digestive system?
Coconut
Coconuts can float across oceans for months or years, survive being eaten or carried by animals, and still sprout into a new tree when the finally reach land.
Which fish can climb trees and breathe air?
Mudskipper
Mudskippers use their pectoral fins to "walk" on land and they can breathe through their skin and mouth lining.
Every second, your body makes about how many new red blood cells?
A. 2,000
B. 2 million
C. 20 million
About 2 million
Your bone marrow works nonstop, producing around 2 million new red blood cells every second to replace the old ones.
Which microscopic animal can survive in space without a spacesuit?
Tardigrade (Water Bear)
Tardigrades can go into a dried out "tun" state that lets them survive extreme heat, cold, radiation, and the vacuum of space.