Egyptian civilization lasted for thousands of years. Cleopatra was born closer to the present day than to the time when the great pyramids were constructed.
Jumping is not in any way unique to mammals. And there are many other mammals that can't jump (every aquatic mammal, to start with). So I'm not sure why this particular answer is any more relevant than, say, scratch their rear ends. A lot of mammals can do that, but elephants can't.
this is a fairly famous fact, related to the fact their knees are different to all other four legged mammals. All others have rear legs that flex the other way.
An interesting discussion point about whether aquatic mammals can 'jump'. Dolphins, orcas and humpbacks can completely leave contact with the water, which might be considered jumping. but I'm sure not all whales can do this.
I agree. The way the question is worded seems intentionally misleading. What do mammals tend to do? Drink milk? Elephants surely do that. Grow hair? Ahh, yes, hair is something particularly mammalian, but elephants have hair. They; however, do not have fur, setting them apart from mammoths. What land-based mammals don't have fur? Elephants, humans, certain very specific breeds of moles and cats... The answer must be "grow fur." Nope. Ahh, but aquatic mammals don't have fur... rack my brain trying to use psychic powers to figure out what the heck QM is thinking, then I see the answer. I immediately feel robbed. Why? Well, giraffes cannot jump. Hippos cannot jump. Rhinos cannot jump. Sloths cannot jump. In fact, many mammals cannot jump. This is nothing particularly special about elephants. Also, tons and tons of non-mammalian animals CAN jump, making this extra misleading with the preface.
Also capybaras, opossums, platypuses, some sorts of bats, porcupines, walruses, etc. There are also plenty of species of mammals that are not known to jump, but maybe they can. There are also also tons of extinct mammals that we will never know whether they could jump or not. The more time passes, the more this just doesn't seem right.
"Almost all" is a strong qualifier. When there are at least 150 other species of mammals that cannot jump which come to mind, I think it's more than fair to deem the qualifier as misleading.
Even if this were to be qualified with the argument that it's a myth that elephants are the only mammal unable to jump, there are other more well-known myths about elephants, for example, their inability to ever forget.
I'd recommend rewording the clue along the lines of "Elephants are unable to do this because their leg bones all point downward." The current clue is both misleading and also vague.
I loved all the Animal Knowledge quizzes I took. They're not as hard as I thought, and even though I didn't get a full score on any of them, I enjoyed them thoroughly. It's always nice to learn some new tidbits of information. E.g. I had no idea about the probable connection between the elephant heads and the cyclops.
I read "people who saw elephant skulls" as "people who cut animal skulls in half." I kept thinking, "who the heck would saw an elephant skull?" Too early in the morning.
Question 4 needs a tweak. The way it is written, mouse is the correct answer, not mice. If the question were re-written in the plural (i.e, asking "what animals"), then mice would be appropriate.
Question 8 - elephants can't run, as running entails all the animal's legs being off the ground at the same time. Related but distinct, but equally valid I would have thought.
An interesting discussion point about whether aquatic mammals can 'jump'. Dolphins, orcas and humpbacks can completely leave contact with the water, which might be considered jumping. but I'm sure not all whales can do this.
"Almost all" is a strong qualifier. When there are at least 150 other species of mammals that cannot jump which come to mind, I think it's more than fair to deem the qualifier as misleading.
Even if this were to be qualified with the argument that it's a myth that elephants are the only mammal unable to jump, there are other more well-known myths about elephants, for example, their inability to ever forget.
I'd recommend rewording the clue along the lines of "Elephants are unable to do this because their leg bones all point downward." The current clue is both misleading and also vague.
But please accept Clay for mud