Where Were The Extinctions? Trivia Quiz

Answer: A North American Island Country

Torre's cave rat (Boromys torrei) was a rodent that was endemic to tropical and subtropical forested areas of Cuba. It was noted as "extinct" in the 1994 "IUCN Red List if Threatened Species". It is thought that the extinction may have been due to the introduction of other rat species to the island.

Answer: North America

Goff's southeastern pocket gopher (Geomys pinetis goffi) was endemic to one area of Florida in the United States (Brevard County). Their habitat was temperate desert and sandy coastline. It is thought to have become extinct around 1955, likely due to habitat loss caused by human encroachment.

Answer: Oceania

The broad-faced potoroo (Potorous platyops) was originally found in southwestern Australia. It was a marsupial that was described by naturalists in the first half of the 19th century. The exact year of extinction is unknown, but the last live capture was in 1875.

Answer: Europe

The pied raven (Corvus corax varius morpha leucophaeus) was actually a colour morph of the North Atlantic subspecies of the common raven. The difference was that the pied raven had a significant number of white feathers, making the birds appear very different from their black relatives.

The pied raven lived in the Faroe Islands, with the first note of the bird dating back to the 1500s. The pied raven was highly sought by collectors in the 1800s who often paid farmers very large sums for dead birds. Over-hunting is thought to be the cause of this bird's extinction.

The last pied raven was spotted in the 1840s.

Answer: Oceania

The laughing owl (Ninox albifacies) lived in New Zealand. It was named for its call that supposedly sounded like a loud screechy laugh. The laughing owl seems to be another example of extinction due to humans - they were hunted for specimens, their habitat was disturbed, and there were introduced species that competed with them for food.

The last recorded laughing owl was founded dead in 1914.

Answer: North America (Pacific Island State)

The kioea (Chaetoptila angustipluma ) was found in Hawaii and became extinct around 1859. Only four specimens are now in museums. It was a large bird, about 13 inches (33 cm) long. In fact, the literal translation of the Hawaiian word "kioea" is "stand tall". It is not known why this bird became extinct.

Answer: South America

A record of Amerigo Vespucci's 1593 voyage recorded that he visited an island off the coast of Brazil and there saw very large rats (amongst other unusual species). This account suggests that Vespucci's rodent (Noronhomys vespuccii) was plentiful on the islands of Fernando de Noronha off northeastern Brazil in the early 1500s, but naturalists exploring the area in the 1800s found no live examples of the species.

It is thought that the introduction of non-native rats and mice competed with Vespucci's rodent, which led to its ultimate extinction.

Answer: South America

Niceforo's pintail (Anas georgica niceforoi) is actually one of three sub-species of the yellow-billed pintail (Anas georgica). Niceforo's pintail is in the dabbling duck subfamily Anatinae. It was found in subtropical and temperate zones of north-central Colombia until the 1950s. The last example of this bird was seen in 1962. There is no clear reason for the extinction of this bird.

Answer: Africa

The western black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis longipes) was actually a sub-species of the black rhinoceros. It was once a common animal on the savanna in Africa, but went extinct due to poaching. No specimens have been seen since 2006. It was declared extinct in 2011.

Answer: Africa

The Alaotra grebe (Tachybaptus rufolavatus) was a small waterfowl that was endemic to lakes in Madagascar. It was only 25 cm (9.8 in) long, so its short wings did not allow it to fly for long distances. Humans are directly responsible for this extinction, which was due to habitat loss, entanglement with fishing nets, and the introduction of non-native reptiles.

This species was declared extinct in 2010.