Snowmageddon Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pleistocene

It remains to be seen whether or not our current Holocene Epoch will actually end up being the beginning of a new geological epoch, or simply another stage of the longer Pleistocene Epoch. Suffice to say, our current record of human history places the Paleolithic Era in a rough conjunction with the geological Pleistocene Epoch. When the Pleistocene moved into the Holocene marks roughly the same time that the Paleolithic moved into the Mesolithic.

The Geological Pleistocene Epoch was from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years ago (source Wikipedia).
The Human Paleolithic Era was from 2,600,000 to 10,000 years ago (source Wikipedia).

Preceding the Pleistocene Epoch was the Pliocene Epoch which, with the Miocene Epoch, made up the Neogene Period (roughly 23 million to 2.588 million years ago). The Oligocene Epoch (33.9 million to 23 million years ago) preceded that as the most recent portion of the Paleogene Period.

Answer: 45 degrees north latitude

Wisconsin extends from 42 degrees 37 minutes north latitude up to 47 degrees 5 minutes north latitude. Thus, at the height of the LGM, the northern half of Wisconsin would have been covered by ice sheets.

Much of the geography of the Minnesota / Wisconsin / Canadian Shield area is attributable to the effects of the last glacial period. The Great Lakes and the Finger Lakes were created by the ice deepening old valleys, and waterways such as the Ohio river system and the Niagara river were newly formed by glacial runoff forcing new channels into existence.

Answer: Beringia

Vitus Bering (1681-1741) was a Danish-born Russian explorer who went on two expeditions along Russia's Eastern coastline, the first from 1728-1730 and the second in 1741 - on which he died. In the region, his name is carried by the Bering Strait, the Bering Sea, Bering Island and the Bering Glacier (in Alaska).

The Bering Land Bridge, also known as Beringia, was approximately 1,000 miles across from north to south, encompassing the current shallow Bering Strait and the shallow seas to the north (Chukchi Sea) and south (Bering Sea).

This land bridge was in existence periodically through the Pleistocene Epoch, as the various eras of glaciation came and went.

Answer: No

The theories attributing the Bering Land Bridge as the means by which North and South America were first settled by humans *were* (until recently) generally accepted by scholars, using evidence from archeology, physical anthropology, DNA analysis and linguistics.

That said, there are regions where archeologists are arguing against the migration theory, which has been the traditional view. One reason for this is the dating of archeological material found in Monte Verde, Chile that puts a civilization present there a thousand years prior to evidence found in Clovis, New Mexico. Clovis had been considered as having the oldest evidence of civilization in the Americas prior to the Monte Verde discovery in 1997.

The disparity in these findings from the previously accepted theories has made for different schools of scientific thought on the subject, and it remains a topic of debate.

Answer: Hunting by dinosaurs

Many larger animal species (called megafauna) did not survive the end of the last ice age, and as scientists search for the reasons, there does not seem to be any one factor that determined their ends. Overhunting by man needing food and furs to survive is a likely contributing factor, along with the changing climate, but these factors do not explain all studied extinctions. Another recent theory attributes a sudden drop in world-wide temperature just as the earth was thawing out of the ice age to a large comet entering the inner solar system and disrupting the natural cycle of glaciation.

Of course, by the time of the last glaciation and our current interglacial period, dinosaurs had ceased to be a factor.

Answer: Smilodon

A number of species of Smilodon have been recognized over the years, but the most recent from the last glaciation was known as Smilodon fatalis. It would have been about the same size as a Siberian tiger (350 - 620 lbs). Numerous specimens have been found within the La Brea tar pits in California. Its range included all of North and South America.

Answer: False

While related, mastodons and mammoths are different, with mammoths part of the Elephantidae Family and mastodons from the Mammutidae Family (both of the Order Proboscidea). While quite similar in appearance, their differences could be equated to goats and sheep. Like goats, mastodons were browsers, while like sheep, mammoths were grazers. Both species (mostly) died out ca. 10,000 BCE, but some subspecies survived in isolation beyond that time.

Answer: False

While Megatherium were among the largest land mammals known, there were others a bit bigger - namely mammoths and Paraceratherium (extremely large hornless rhinoceros-like mammals). Like their smaller and still living cousins, the giant ground sloth was slow-moving and had large claws and long tongues.

These creatures, however, were truly giant, weighing in at roughly eight tons, standing as high as 20 feet.

Answer: Woolly Rhinoceros

Coelodonta antiquitatis (Woolly Rhinoceros) lived on the Eurasian continent, and also lived until approximately 10,000 BCE. The external appearance of the woolly rhino is known through mummified remains found in Siberia, as well as through cave paintings of the animals. From its binomial name, the word "Coelodonta" means "cavity tooth".

Answer: Irish Elk

"Megalocerus giganteus" translates as "gigantic large horn". These elk were the largest ever recorded deer species, standing over 10 feet tall with antlers that could spread to 11 feet across. Evidence of Irish Elk have been dated back to as recently as 7,700 BCE in northern Siberia.

Not Irish, per se, they have nevertheless acquired the name due to the large numbers of specimens found in Irish bogs.