Animal Record Breakers – answers and explanations
Here are the answers to all 15 questions in the Animal Record Breakers quiz, each with a short explanation. Fastest, biggest, oldest – how well do you know nature's champions? Haven't played yet? Take the quiz first and compare your score.
Play the quiz · 15 questions1. Which bird holds the record as the fastest animal, reaching 300+ km/h in a dive?
Answer: Peregrine falcon
The peregrine falcon is the fastest member of the animal kingdom. When it dives (stoops) to catch other birds in flight, it can go faster than 300 km/h (190 mph).
2. Which fish is the largest living fish species in the world?
Answer: Whale shark
The whale shark is the largest living fish. It is a slow-moving filter feeder that strains plankton and small fish from the water, and it can grow longer than 12 metres.
3. Which shark is the longest-lived known vertebrate, possibly living 400 years?
Answer: Greenland shark
The Greenland shark is the longest-lived known vertebrate and can live at least 400 years. A 2016 study dated the sharks using radiocarbon in their eye lenses and found they only reach sexual maturity at about 150.
4. What is the world's largest living reptile?
Answer: Saltwater crocodile
The saltwater crocodile is the largest living reptile. It lives along the east coast of India, across Southeast Asia and in northern Australia.
5. Native to Cuba, which bird is the smallest bird in the world?
Answer: Bee hummingbird
The bee hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae) of Cuba is the smallest bird in the world. It measures only about 5.7 to 6.2 cm from the tip of its bill to the tip of its tail.
6. Which bird has the largest wingspan of any living bird, up to about 3.5 metres?
Answer: Wandering albatross
The wandering albatross has the largest wingspan of any living bird, reaching about 3.5 m. It uses those long, narrow wings to glide for hours over the Southern Ocean while barely flapping.
7. Which monkey is often called the loudest land animal, heard up to 5 km away?
Answer: Howler monkey
Howler monkeys are often called the loudest land animals, and their calls can carry up to about 5 km. An enlarged hyoid bone in the throat works as a resonating chamber that amplifies their howls.
8. Which mammal holds the record for the deepest dive, nearly 3,000 metres down?
Answer: Cuvier's beaked whale
A Cuvier's beaked whale tagged by satellite holds the mammal deep-diving record at 2,992 m. A dive by the same species also lasted a record 137.5 minutes.
9. Which insect is often named the strongest for its size, pulling 1,000x its weight?
Answer: Dung beetle
Tests found that the male horned dung beetle, Onthophagus taurus, can pull 1,141 times its own body weight. The beetle is only about 10 mm long, and researchers at Queen Mary University of London named it the strongest insect.
10. Jonathan, the oldest known living land animal, is what kind of animal?
Answer: Giant tortoise
Jonathan is a Seychelles giant tortoise living on the island of St Helena, and he is believed to have hatched around 1832. He is recognised as the world's oldest living land animal.
11. Which fish is widely cited as the fastest in the ocean, at around 110 km/h?
Answer: Sailfish
The sailfish is widely cited as the fastest fish in the ocean, with bursts of about 110 km/h. It raises its large sail-like dorsal fin to herd schools of sardines and other small fish while hunting.
12. Which snake holds the record as the world's longest, reaching over 6 metres?
Answer: Reticulated python
The reticulated python of Southeast Asia is the world's longest snake, and some individuals grow longer than 6 metres. The green anaconda is heavier, but it does not grow as long.
13. Which West African species is the largest frog in the world?
Answer: Goliath frog
The Goliath frog is the largest frog in the world. It lives in fast-flowing rivers in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, can grow over 30 cm long and can weigh more than 3 kg.
14. Its clicks reach about 230 decibels. Which is the loudest animal on Earth?
Answer: Sperm whale
The sperm whale is considered the loudest animal on Earth. Its echolocation clicks reach about 230 decibels underwater, and it uses them to find squid in the deep ocean.
15. Which animal has the largest eyes, each about the size of a football?
Answer: Colossal squid
The colossal squid has the largest eyes known in the animal kingdom, at about 27 cm across. Scientists think such large eyes help it spot sperm whales, its predators, in the dark deep sea.