There Are Millions of Animal Species, So We'll Be Impressed If You Can Identify 11!

By: Daniel Yetman
Estimated Completion Time
4 min
There Are Millions of Animal Species, So We'll Be Impressed If You Can Identify 11!
Image: Picture by Tambako the Jaguar / Moment Open / Getty Images

About This Quiz

Some of the animals that live on our planet look even more surreal than the fictional creatures in our movies. Take the platypus for instance; it looks like somebody took a duck and sewed it together with a beaver! The pink fairy armadillo and dumbo octopus don't look any less ridiculous. 

If you take out your magnifying glass and begin looking at some of the insects on the planet, it's hard not to be amazed. The orchid mantis is a perfect example of how animals evolve to match their surroundings. This mantis looks almost exactly like an orchid flower until the moment it decides to lunge itself at a small bird or mouse. Don't get too close or it might think your finger is something delicious. 

Are you a fan of the Planet Earth documentaries? If you are, you might already know a lot of the critters on this quiz, but we're confident we've found a few that will be new to you. Have you ever heard of a warty frogfish? How about the red-lipped batfish? Don't tell me you're already an expert in Honduran white bats?

It's time for you to guess the names of some of the craziest looking animals on our planet. Ready? Then let's get started!

Platypus
Msdstefan / Stefan Heinrich via WikiCommons
What's the name of this animal that looks like the product of a beaver and a duck?
Nutria
Quokka
Platypus
Markhor
Wombat
Posnov / Moment / Getty Images
What's the name of this Australian native critter?
Wombat
Opposum
Platypus
Tarsier
Star-nosed mole
Stan Tekiela Author / Naturalist / Wildlife Photographer / Moment / Getty Images
What's the name of this funny-looking mammal?
Fossa
Sunda colugo
River opposum
Star-nosed mole

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Venezuelan poodle moth
Dargombez via YouTube
What's the name of this sweater-wearing insect?
Orchid mantis
Venezuelan poodle moth
Driver ant
Amazon giant fishing spider
Warty frogfish
Hal Beral / Corbis / Getty Images
What's the name of this ugly fish?
Warty frogfish
Angelfish
Dumbo octopus
Cuttlefish
Pangolin
Image captured by Joanne Hedger / Moment / Getty Images
Which name does this armored creature go by?
Long-beaked echidna
Pangolin
Olinguito
Solenodon

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Orchid mantis
Adegsm / Moment / Getty Images
Can you tell us the name of this flower? Whoops! We mean insect.
Assassin bug
Giant katydid
Praying mantis
Orchid mantis
Shoebill
guenterguni / E+ / Getty Images
Can you recognize this funny-looking bird?
Oilbird
Long-wattled Umbrellabird
Shoebill
Flightless cormorant
Chinese giant salamander
Petr Hamerník via WikiCommons
Do you know the name of the largest amphibian in the world?
Chinese giant salamander
Mudskipper
Axolotl
Aretochoana

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Sea pen
artland / Moment / Getty Images
Can you tell us what this large filter feeder is called?
Warty frogfish
Batfish
Sea pen
Northern Krill
Assassin bug
Jasius / Moment / Getty Images
Which of these insects is the ninja of the insect world?
Amazon giant fishing spider
Assassin bug
Tiger spider
Black widow
Honduran white bat
©Juan Carlos Vindas / Moment / Getty Images
What's the name of this fluff ball?
Microbat
Vampire bat
Honduran white bat
Egyptian fruit bat

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Mexican mole lizard
marlin harms via WikiCommons
Which of these unique creatures lives in the Baja Desert?
Gila monster
Mexican mole lizard
Mexican beaded lizard
Water monitor
Flightless cormorant
Steve Allen / Stockbyte / Getty Images
There are only 1,000 of these birds left in the wild? What's its name?
Magnificent frigatebird
Large ground finch
Galapagos penguin
Flightless cormorant
Baird's tapir
Mike Powles / Photodisc / Getty Images
It's not a cow, pig or rhino.... What is it?
Baird's tapir
Red panda
Capybara
Black Slavonian pig

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Superb bird-of-paradise
markaharper1 via WikiCommons
Can you name this bird that was featured in the "Planet Earth" series?
Kakapo
Long-wattled umbrella bird
Superb bird-of-paradise
Shoebill
Lamprey
PEDRE / E+ / Getty Images
It's not the prettiest animal on this list, but do you know its name?
Lamprey
Anglerfish
Sea python
Manta ray
Mantis Shrimp
Emma Holman / Moment / Getty Images
It looks like an insect, but it's actually a crustacean. What's it called?
Mantis Shrimp
Red-lipped batfish
Japanese spider crab
Blue dragon slug

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Axolotl
Raj Kamal / Stockbyte / Getty Images
Can you tell us the name of this carnivorous salamander that lives for 10-15 years?
Axolotl
Newt
Tiger Salamander
Mudskipper
Dumbo octopus
NOAA Okeanos Explorer via WikiCommons
Can you name this eight-legged animal?
Red octopus
Dumbo octopus
Common squid
Cuttlefish
Atretochoana
Tobias von Anhalt via WikiCommons
What's the name of this eyeless creature?
Mudskipper
Newt
Atretochoana
Axolotl

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Giant katydid
Tahreer Photography / Moment / Getty Images
What's the name of this giant leaf-like insect?
Giant katydid
Driver ant
Assassin bug
Praying mantis
Saiga antelope
Andrey Giljov via WikiCommons
What happens when you mix a walrus with a deer? You get this animal. What's its name?
Impala
Saiga antelope
Longhorn antelope
Gazelle
Tarsier
Cristian Bortes / Moment Open / Getty Images
Do these eyes look familiar to you?
Tarsier
Solenodon
Pangolin
Olinguito

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Blobfish
Rachel Caauwe via WikiCommons
Can you tell us the name of this sad fish?
European giant jellyfish
Blobfish
Anglerfish
Lamprey
Amazon giant fishing spider
Fritz Geller-Grimm via WikiCommons
What's the name of this spider that you probably wouldn't want to see in your shower drain?
Amazon giant fishing spider
Black widow
Tiger spider
Huntsman spider
Water opossum
John Cummings via WikiCommons
Which of these animals is found throughout South America?
Tarsier
Water opossum
Solenodon
Pangolin

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Komodo dragon
TeeJe / Moment / Getty Images
It's not a dinosaur, but it is the largest living lizard. What's its name?
Gecko
Chameleon
Green iguana
Komodo dragon
Nutria
kiszon pascal / Moment / Getty Images
This "river rat" is native to South America. Do you know its name?
Nutria
Markhor
Baird's Tapir
Capybara
Long-wattled umbrellabird
Hectonichus via WikiCommons
What's the name of this strange bird from Colombia and Ecuador?
Flightless cormorant
Hoatzin
Long-wattled umbrellabird
Kakapo

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Kakapo
Anthoptic / Moment Open / Getty Images
What's the name of New Zealand's "owl parrot"?
Flightless cormorant
Hoatzin
Ground finch
Kakapo
Maned wolf
Photo by Danny James / Moment / Getty Images
What's the name of this animal that looks like your pet dog on stilts?
Grey wolf
Maned wolf
Northwestern wolf
Dingo
Gila monster
ebettini / E+ / Getty Images
What's the name of the largest American lizard?
Green iguana
Gila monster
Water monitor
Chameleon

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Aye-aye
Cagan Hakki Sekercioglu / Moment / Getty Images
Can you name this endangered lemur?
Ring-taled lemur
Sifakas
Aye-aye
Mouse lemur
Markhor
zahoor salmi / Moment / Getty Images
What's the name of this goat that's going through an experimental phase with its hair?
Chinese water goat
Markhor
Lowland streaked tenrec
Bactrian camel
Hoatzin
Murray Foubister via WikiCommons
Can you tell us which bird has the nickname "stinkbird"?
Magnificant frigatebird
Hoatzin
Ground finch
Flightless cormorant

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Patagonian Mara
www.bridgetdavey.com / Moment Open / Getty Images
Is it a mouse or is it a rabbit? Maybe both. What's it called?
Patagonian Mara
Naked mole rat
Scottish hare
Capybara
Gerenuk
Vicki Jauron, Babylon and Beyond Photography / Moment / Getty Images
What's the name of this long-necked mammal?
Mara
Gazelle
Gerenuk
Pronghorn
California Condor
Steve Johnson / Moment / Getty Images
What's the name of North America's largest (and ugliest) land bird?
Bald Eagle
Osprey
Peregrine falcon
California Condor

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Frilled shark
Citron / CC BY-SA 3.0 via WikiCommons
What's the name of this animal that lives more than 5,000 feet below the water's surface?
Frilled shark
Glaucus atlanticus
Humpback anglerfish
Angelfish