Eight animal questions. How wild is your knowledge?

You can recognise a flamingo in a second. Explaining its colour is a different question. The animal world is full of familiar faces with unfamiliar stories, which makes it a very good place to start a quiz.

Try these eight questions before scrolling to the answers. Say your guess out loud, or take turns with someone else. There is no timer and no trick wording. Just eight opportunities to find out what you know.

The questions

What gives an American flamingo its pink or reddish colour?
Does a giraffe have more neck vertebrae than a human, fewer, or the same number?
Which emperor penguin parent incubates the egg: the mother or the father?
Does a sea otter mainly rely on thick fur or a thick layer of blubber to keep warm?
Can a tiger’s stripe pattern help identify that individual tiger?
Do chameleons use colour changes to communicate with each other?
Is an orangutan a monkey or a great ape?
Apart from hearing, what useful job do an African elephant’s large ears help it do?

Choose your answers before reading on. If you are playing together, let everyone finish their guess before revealing the explanation.

1. The flamingo’s colour starts with food

Diet. The colour comes from pigments in food, including algae and small animals such as shrimp. The striking plumage has a less glamorous origin than you might expect: dinner. Smithsonian’s National Zoo explains the link between flamingo food and colour.

2. A giraffe has seven neck vertebrae

The same number as a human: seven. The difference is in how long those vertebrae are. A much longer neck does not require a longer list of bones. See the Giraffe Conservation Foundation’s facts about giraffes.

3. The father takes the incubation shift

The male emperor penguin. After the female lays the egg, the male keeps it on his feet beneath a fold of skin while she goes to sea to feed. Both parents have roles in caring for the chick after it hatches. The Australian Antarctic Program describes the breeding cycle.

4. A sea otter depends on its coat

Thick fur. Sea otters rely on exceptionally dense fur for insulation, rather than the thick blubber associated with many other marine mammals. That coat needs careful attention: grooming is part of keeping it effective in cold water. Read the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s sea otter profile.

5. The stripes can tell individuals apart

Yes. Tigers have individual stripe patterns. Researchers can use these markings to distinguish one tiger from another, making a beautiful pattern useful identification too. Smithsonian’s National Zoo explains how the markings differ.

6. Colour can send a message

Yes. Chameleon colour changes can communicate information to other chameleons. The story is broader than simply matching a background, and a chameleon cannot become every colour imaginable. The San Diego Zoo’s chameleon guide explores the reasons for changing colour.

7. An orangutan is a great ape

A great ape. Orangutans belong to the great apes, alongside gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and humans. Their home is in the forests of Southeast Asia. See the Smithsonian orangutan profile for more about these forest dwellers.

8. Those ears help release heat

They help the elephant cool down. An African elephant’s large ears provide a surface through which excess body heat can escape. Hearing is only part of their usefulness. WWF’s African elephant guide describes this adaptation.

Keep the curiosity going

How many did you know, and which answer would you tell someone else? That second question might be the better one. A good quiz leaves you with something to talk about after the score.

Quizy is the quiz you play out loud. Set up a game on your iPhone, hear the host’s question and answer when it is your turn. Browse the current packs and their access requirements in the app. These eight editorial questions are a sample for this article; the questions in a Quizy session can differ.

If you would like to hear the format before choosing a game, try the Quizy demo. Play requires an internet connection.