Which is the largest animal that has ever lived?
The blue whale — bigger than any dinosaur we have found.
Nature & Beasts
Animals and plants, birds and insects, trees and flowers — the living world and the small machinery of it.
90 questions · tap a question to reveal the answer
Which fruit carries its seeds on the outside?
The strawberry — and botanically it is not a berry at all.
How many legs does a spider have?
Eight — six would make it an insect.
Which bird cannot fly but is the fastest runner?
The ostrich — about 70 km/h, and it kicks forwards.
Which is the fastest animal on land?
The cheetah — but only for about half a minute.
Which animal carries its home on its back?
The snail — and the shell grows with it, so it cannot move out.
What does a caterpillar become?
A butterfly or moth — A butterfly or a moth - it rebuilds itself almost from scratch.
Which animal is famous for building dams?
The beaver — it reshapes whole rivers.
What is the tallest kind of tree?
The coast redwood — over 100 metres, near the limit for a tree.
Which animal has fingerprints almost identical to a human's?
The koala — close enough to confuse a crime scene.
Which is the only mammal that can truly fly?
The bat — the others only glide.
What is honey made from?
Flower nectar — Nectar - reduced by bees until it will not spoil.
Which bird builds the largest nest?
The bald eagle — some weigh more than a tonne.
Which animal never stops growing?
The lobster — it keeps moulting and getting bigger.
What do we call an animal that is active at night?
Nocturnal — the daytime word is diurnal.
What gives leaves their green colour?
Chlorophyll — it absorbs red and blue, and reflects green.
Which insect makes silk?
The silkworm moth — one cocoon is a single unbroken thread.
Which animal has the longest pregnancy?
The elephant — close to two years.
Which part of a plant takes in water?
The roots — and they can reach a very long way.
Which animal sleeps standing up?
The horse — it can lock its legs and doze upright.
Which bird is famous for mimicking human speech?
The parrot — though it has no vocal cords as we would know them.
Which animal's stripes are unique to the individual, like a fingerprint?
Both — no two zebras or tigers carry the same pattern.
Which food never spoils?
Honey — jars from Egyptian tombs are still edible.
Which animal can regrow a lost limb?
The axolotl — limbs, tail, and parts of its brain.
What is a group of fish called?
A school — or a shoal, which is not quite the same thing.
Which is the only bird that can fly backwards?
The hummingbird — its wings trace a figure of eight.
Which animal is a group of wolves?
A pack — usually just an extended family.
Which animal has the largest eyes of any living creature?
The giant squid — eyes the size of dinner plates, for spotting whales.
What is the tallest animal in the world?
Giraffe — up to 5.5 metres.
Which animal is the largest living land animal?
African elephant
How many legs does an insect have?
Six — that is part of what makes an insect.
Which animal is famous for changing color?
Chameleon
What is a young frog called?
Tadpole — A tadpole.
Which of these is NOT a mammal?
Crocodile — it is a reptile.
Which fruit do raisins come from?
Grapes — dried in the sun.
Which animal's home is called a hive?
Bee — thousands live in one hive.
Which vegetable makes many people cry when cutting it?
Onion — its juices irritate the eyes.
Why are a tiger's stripes still there if you shave it?
They are in the skin — The pattern is in the skin as well as the coat.
Which animal has the best stamina over a long distance?
The human — Humans - we sweat, and can run faster animals to exhaustion.
Which part of an apple is the true fruit?
The core — the flesh is swollen flower tissue around it.
Which plant grows fastest of all?
Bamboo — nearly a metre a day in some species.
Which fish can change from male to female?
The clownfish — the dominant fish in a group becomes the female.
Which big cat cannot roar?
The cheetah — it purrs and chirps instead.
What is the fastest bird when diving?
Peregrine falcon — over 300 km/h in a dive.
Why can owls fly almost silently?
Their feathers have fringed edges — Comb-like feather edges break up the airflow and kill the noise.
What happens to a tadpole's tail as it becomes a frog?
It is absorbed and reused — Absorbed - the tissue is broken down and recycled.
Which bird stays airborne for years at a time?
The common swift — The swift - it eats, sleeps and mates on the wing.
Which animal carried loads for people before the horse?
The donkey — domesticated from the African wild ass.
Why does a coin and a feather fall at the same speed on the Moon?
There is no air to slow the feather — No air resistance - Apollo 15 did this with a hammer and a falcon feather.
Why do bees die after stinging you but not after stinging each other?
The barbed sting catches in skin and tears free — The barb grips human skin; insect shells let it pull out cleanly.
Why do we hiccup?
Nobody is certain, though several theories compete — Still unexplained - one idea traces it to our amphibian ancestry.
Why is a whale's nearest living relative the hippopotamus?
Whales evolved from hoofed land mammals — Whales came from land, and the fossils show the whole walk back in.
Why can a bird sit on a power line without being hurt?
Both feet are at the same voltage — No difference between its feet, so no current flows through it.
Why are there no green mammals?
Mammal hair cannot make green pigment — No mammal makes green fur; the sloth manages it by growing algae.
Why does a spider not stick to its own web?
Only some threads are sticky, and it walks the others — The spiral is sticky, the spokes are not, and it walks the spokes.
Which animal is the fastest swimmer over short bursts?
Sailfish — at around 110 km/h.
Which bird lays the largest eggs?
Ostrich — one egg equals about 24 hen eggs.
What is the largest reptile in the world?
Saltwater crocodile — up to 6 metres.
What do you call an animal that eats both plants and meat?
Omnivore — An omnivore, like humans and bears.
What is the smallest bird in the world?
Bee hummingbird — about 5 cm long.
Which fish is famous for swimming upstream to lay eggs?
Salmon — returning to its birthplace.
Which dog breed was bred to run beside carriages?
The Dalmatian — it has unusual stamina, and later ran with fire engines.
Which bird is often taught to talk?
Parrot — grey parrots learn hundreds of words.
What is the largest big cat in the Americas?
Jaguar
What does a caterpillar's chrysalis protect?
Its metamorphosis — into a butterfly.
Which mammal lays eggs?
Platypus — one of only five egg-laying mammals.
Which fish is traditionally used in sushi more than any other?
Tuna — especially bluefin.
What is the national flower of Japan?
Cherry blossom — celebrated every spring.
Which bird migrates the farthest each year?
Arctic tern — pole to pole and back.
Why are large reef fish sometimes poisonous to eat?
Toxins build up the food chain — Ciguatera - algal toxin concentrating in the biggest predators.
What is the largest species of shark?
Whale shark — a gentle plankton eater.
How fast does a blue whale calf grow?
About 90 kg a day — Ninety kilograms a day on milk - an adult human's weight every day.
Which fruit has varieties called Cavendish and plantain?
Banana
Why do whole bamboo forests flower and die in the same year?
They are often one plant — A stand is usually one connected organism on a clock up to 120 years long.
Which animal has the longest gestation among land mammals?
Elephant — about 22 months.
What is the strongest natural fiber?
Spider silk — stronger than steel by weight.
What is the study of tree rings called?
Dendrochronology — each ring a year.
What was the name of the first cloned mammal?
Dolly the sheep — Dolly, cloned in 1996.
What is the process by which plants lose water through leaves?
Transpiration
What does passing the mirror test suggest about an animal?
Some sense of self — It is contested - failing may mean vision or interest, not absent selfhood.
How old can a Greenland shark get?
Around 400 years — Dated by the lens of the eye - one was estimated at nearly 400.
What limits how tall a tree can grow?
Water cannot be pulled higher — Above about 120m the tension would tear the water columns apart.
Which moon shows geysers of water ice from its south polar 'tiger stripes'?
Enceladus — feeding Saturn's E ring.
Enceladus is the sixth-largest moon of Saturn and the 18th largest in the Solar System. It is about 500 kilometres in diameter, about a tenth of that of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. It is covered by clean, freshly deposited snow hundreds of meters thick, making it one of the most reflective bodies of the Solar System. Consequently, its…
Wikipedia · EnceladusWhich bird makes the longest annual migration, pole to pole?
Arctic tern — around 70,000 km a year, seeing two summers.
Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With approximately 375 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but most species are found in Central and South America. As of 2026, 21 hummingbird species are listed as endangered or critically endangered, with about…
Wikipedia · HummingbirdWhich fungus alters the behaviour of ants before killing them?
Ophiocordyceps — it drives the ant to a leaf and clamps it there.
Which Russian botanist's seed bank staff starved to death rather than eat the collection?
Vavilov's — Leningrad, during the siege.
Which flower's speculative trade collapsed in the Dutch Republic in 1637?
The tulip — and the mania is smaller than the legend.
Which pigment was made by walling cattle in a shed and feeding them only mango leaves?
Indian yellow — from the urine, and banned around 1908.
Which bird was hunted to extinction within about 80 years of its first European description?
The dodo — and no complete specimen survives anywhere.
Which animal's genome revealed it can survive complete desiccation by replacing water with sugar?
The tardigrade — trehalose and disordered proteins.