Amazing Animals: Meerkat Quiz

Estimated Completion Time
1 min
Amazing Animals: Meerkat Quiz
Image: Mattias Klum/National Geographic/Getty Images

About This Quiz

Meerkats aren't your typical cute, furry rodents. These desert dwellers are members of close-knit communities where everyone pitches in to look out for predators and teach the young. When they aren't looking for a bite to eat or grooming each other's fur, however, meerkats can be lethally competitive. What is it about these African critters that leaves us so enthralled?
Meerkats live in:
the Sahara Desert
the Mojave Desert
the Kalahari Desert
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Meerkats live in the Kalahari Desert, which spans across South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Angola. The Lacey Act states that because meerkats aren't native to American soil, it's illegal to bring them to the U.S. or keep them as pets without a license.

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Meerkats are relatives of which of the following rodents?
mongooses
minks
squirrels
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Meerkats are about the size of squirrels, standing 10 to 12 inches and weighing about two pounds, but they're related to the mongoose.

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One of the special features of a meerkat's eyes and ears is:
They secrete a special toxin that allows them to keep predators at bay.
They both have a natural ability to keep sand away.
They can't function at the same time; when a meerkat listens, it can't see, and vice versa.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Meerkats have a unique ability to keep sand out of their eyes and ears, a very important trait considering their desert habitat. Meerkats can close their ears to prevent grains of sand from infiltrating, and they have a special membrane in their eyes, known as the nictitating membrane, that can remove sand when they blink.

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Most of a meerkat's diet consists of:
insects
plants and leaves
mice and other small rodents
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Meerkats are primarily insectivores. About 82 percent of their diet consists of insects, but they also dine on the occasional snake, bird egg and poisonous scorpion.

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Meerkats may share their underground burrows with:
beetles
snakes
lizards
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

As insectivores, meerkats are known to chow down on many different types of bugs, but one bug they don't eat is beetles. They will often share their complex system of burrows with beetles, as well as other rodents like squirrels.

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Sentinels are:
special clusters of meerkats that hunt for food to bring back to the rest of the gang
special tunnels meerkats retreat to in emergencies
lookout meerkats, rotating throughout the day, that keep an eye out for predators while the rest of the group looks for food
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Sentinels are special lookout meerkats that watch for danger as the rest of the gang goes about its daily routine. When a sentinel senses danger, he lets out a special bark that alarms the other meerkats. Studies have shown sentinels are extremely effective in tracking predators up to 150 meters away.

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A meerkat pup is defined as:
any meerkat 10 months old or younger
any stray meerkat who joins a larger group after roaming alone
the dominant meerkat in a group
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Meerkat pups are the babies of the group, defined as any meerkat that is 10 months old or younger.

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A typical meerkat gang consists of:
an autonomous group of up to 50, about half male and half female, who all take turns as sentinels
two to four families consisting of a male, a female, and three to five pups
an alpha male and alpha female; other adults (beta males and beta females); and meerkat pups
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Meerkats generally live in gangs of two to 50 members. Every gang has a dominant female and male, known as the alpha female and alpha male, as well as subordinate adults, known as beta females and beta males, and pups. Beta females and males, defined as any adult meerkats other than the leaders, usually leave the gang by the age of three.

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Cooperative breeding among meerkats means that:
Every female meerkat in a gang is allowed to breed.
Everyone in the gang takes part in raising meerkat pups.
Meerkats only breed in the winter, when the weather is coolest.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Cooperative breeding in meerkat communities is the process in which everyone cares for meerkat pups. While the mother does spend a good deal of time with her pups, other meerkats babysit when she's off looking for food. Because meerkat pups rely more on mentoring than instinct in their first months, elder meerkats educate them about how to forage for food and detect predators.

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How long does a meerkat pregnancy last?
11 weeks
24 weeks
36 weeks
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Female meerkats are pregnant for about 11 weeks before birthing a litter of two to four pups. Meerkats breed year-round, and sex is initiated by males fighting with females.

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You Got:
/10
Mattias Klum/National Geographic/Getty Images