Sunday, June 24, 2007

Animal Etymology - Random Trivia Answers

  • A6. Algonquian (American Indian) - chipmunk & muskrat. The chipmunk is a squirrel-like rodent whose name means "one who descends trees headfirst". The muskrat is a large, aquatic rodent named for its red color.
  • B1. Arabic - albatross & gazelle. The albatross is a large diving bird known as the "sea eagle". The gazelle is an antelope with less speed but more endurance than a cheetah.
  • C18. Australian Aboriginal - taipan & wombat. The taipan is a highly venomous snake that can reach lengths of nine feet. The wombat is a short, three-foot-long marsupial.
  • D7. Chinese - chow chow & shar pei. The chow chow is a small, "puffy-lion" dog whose name means either "mixed" or "food". The shar pei is a blue-black tongued "sand skin" dog.
  • E3. Congolese - basenji & zebra. The basenji is a barkless hunting dog. The zebra is the horse's black and white relative (white stripes on black, if you were wondering).
  • F17. Dutch - meerkat & walrus. The meerkat is a small mongoose made famous by Timon in The Lion King movies (from the word for "monkey", although it looks like "lake cat"). The walrus is a semi-aquatic mammal that was either a "whale horse" or a "shore giant".
  • G5. French - caterpillar & porpoise. The caterpillar is a "hairy cat" butterfly or moth larva. The porpoise is a large dolphin-like "pork fish" named for its piglike nose.
  • H10. German - dachshund & rottweiler. The dachshund is a short-legged badger-hunting dog. The rottweiler is a large working dog named for a town in southern Germany.
  • I11. Greek - dinosaur & rhinoceros. The dinosaur is a "terrible lizard" that did not coexist with cavemen. The rhinoceros is a large "horn-nosed" ungulate.
  • J4. Indonesian - cassowary & komodo dragon. The cassowary is a large, flightless bird that lives in tropical forests. The komodo dragon is the largest lizard, named for the Indonesian island that it is native to.
  • K12. Malay - gecko & orangutan. The gecko is a small to medium-sized lizard named for its chirps. The orangutan is a reddish-brown great ape "man of the woods".
  • L14. Maori (New Zealander) - kiwi & moa. The kiwi is a small, flightless bird that gave its name to a similar looking fruit. The moa is a large, extinct, flightless bird native to New Zealand.
  • M9. Nahuatl (Mexican Indian) - coyote & ocelot. The coyote is a prairie wolf whose scientific name Canis latrans means "barking dog". The ocelot is a painted leopard or McNenney's wildcat ("jaguar").
  • N15. Old Norse - lemming & skate. The lemming is a vole and muskrat relative, falsely believed to regularly commit mass suicide by a staged scene in Walt Disney's 1958 documentary White Wilderness. The skate is a flat, carnivorous, bottom-dwelling fish.
  • O13. Sanskrit - jackal & mynah. The jackal is a scavenging "howler" related to the dog. The mynah is a starling relative known for its ability to imitate sounds.
  • P8. Spanish - cockroach & mosquito. The cockroach is a extremely adaptable insect whose Spanish name is well known from the song "La Cucaracha". The mosquito is a "little fly" whose female feasts on human and other mammal blood.
  • Q2. Telugu (Indian [state of Andhra Pradesh]) - bandicoot & mongoose. The bandicoot is a omnivorous, marsupial "pig-rat", made famous by the video game character Crash Bandicoot. The mongoose is a small, cat-like carnivore, heroically represented by Rudyard Kipling's snake-fighting Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.
  • R16. Tupi-Guarani (South American Indian) - macaw & piranha. The macaw is a colorful parrot, possibly named for the tree whose fruit it eats. The piranha is a carnivorous fish named for its scissor-like teeth.

You can look up your other favorite animals at the Online Etymology Dictionary.

No comments: