The Extinction Distinction Trivia Quiz

Answer: Canines

With their extremely sharp and elongated canine teeth and powerful upper body strength, these animals were deadly predators of the Cenozoic era. Closely related to today's lions, they displayed pack mentalities and co-operative hunting techniques.

It has been speculated that the extinction of other larger animals that would have been standard prey for these felines led to their own extinction, as they struggled to adapt to the smaller prey on offer.

So many sabre toothed cat fossils have been found in California that it has been named the state fossil!

Answer: Asian elephant

In the later eighteenth century, French naturalist Georges Cuvier successfully classified the woolly mammoth as an extinct species of elephant.

Woolly mammoths coexisted with humans for a substantial period of time. It is likely that hunting by humans for its hide and meat is one of the many factors (among with climate change and habitat destruction) which contributed to the species' extinction.

As a result of the woolly mammoth's propensity to inhabit colder areas of the planet, many preserved frozen specimens have been found in areas such as Siberia. This makes it one of the most studied and understood extinct species in the modern world.

Answer: 1914

The last passenger pigeon was called Martha.

In the late nineteenth century, settlers in North America started to move westward to take advantage of the open spaces and the new legislation which encouraged its use. Passenger pigeons lived in huge flocks which were so big that they could blacken the sky when they flew overhead.

Unluckily for the passenger pigeon, not only were they an easy target for settlers looking for cheap and easy meat to feed their slaves, but they inhabited the very forests which those settlers began to harvest for their houses and fires. In just over 100 years, an abundant species was all but wiped out.

Answer: Great auk

The great auk had been hunted since Neanderthal times and had become prized for its meat and feathers as it become more scarce. The last colony of great auks were found in 1835 on a small rock close to Iceland. Museums began collecting them for displays, leaving very few to continue the species. An organised hunt of 1844 saw the last known breeding pair killed, along with their one remaining egg.

In 1840, a great auk was tied up for 3 days and then executed for witchcraft in a Scottish islet by paranoid villagers who thought that it had caused a storm!

Answer: South Africa

The quagga was so named because of its distinctive call, which sounded something like "Quaaaagaaa". It had brown and white stripes (similar to those of a zebra) across its front, which normally faded around the middle of the body into a caramel-brown coloured rear.

When the Dutch settled in South Africa, it was hunted for food and hide. The species became extinct in the late nineteenth century when the last known quagga died in an Amsterdam zoo. However, more recently, South African funding has been provided to a project which aims to selectively breed zebras to try to replicate the unique markings of the quagga.

Answer: Bering Sea

A tame creature which lived on kelp in the Bering Sea, Steller's sea cows were, on average, over 25 feet long and weighed around 10 tons.

The species was discovered by Georg Steller in around 1741. Once a description had been published, hundreds of hunters travelled out to the islands past Alaska to hunt the Steller's sea cow for its meat, subcutaneous fat and skin. The fat was used in oil lamps as it did not smoke or smell. The Steller's sea cow was extinct within just 27 years.

Answer: Yes

The thylacine was a large striped, carnivorous marsupial. It is only one of two known marsupials to have a pouch in both sexes.

Following rumours and early photographs of thylacines with chickens and other farmyard animals, humans began to hunt them. This, coupled with the continuing encroachment of humans into their habitats, led to their fast decline in numbers. It was not until the 1930s that anyone realised that the creature was endangered. By then it was too late and the last known thylacine (named Benjamin) died in captivity in Hobart Zoo in 1937.

Answer: The toads' breeding pools dried up in very hot weather.

The golden toad was discovered in 1966 in Monteverde, Costa Rica. In 1987 a particularly hot summer caused all of the toads' breeding pools to dry up before the tadpoles had matured. The breeding pools were well known to observers, but by 1988 only 29 toads could be found. By 1989, only one male could be spotted, which leads experts to believe that the golden toad has become extinct.

Answer: Christopher Columbus

The Caribbean monk seal once inhabited the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It was discovered by Columbus when he arrived in the Caribbean on his first voyage to the coast of Santo Domingo. Columbus and his men discovered that the seals were abundant and very useful for their oil.

They have been hunted by fishermen, who consider them competitors for certain popular fish, for centuries. It was declared extinct in 2008, following an inquiry which showed that the last sighting of a Caribbean monk seal had been in 1952 near Honduras.

Answer: To help digest their food

Dodos swallowed stones measuring around 1 to 3 inches in diameter in order to help them digest their food. It is a practice that many world bird species still undertake today, though whether it is effective is debatable.

The dodo became extinct in around the seventeenth century, following years of being hunted for food and sport. Though they had powerful hooked beaks, the birds were clumsy and slow, making them relatively easy targets compared to parrots and other indigenous birds.

The last recorded sighting of a dodo was in 1662, less than 100 years after the first recorded sighting! Given the time, many considered the bird to be a mythical creature as it disappeared to swiftly, but fossils have confirmed its existence.