THE EVOLUTION OF IRELAND CHALLENGE #2: MEGAFAUNAL EXTINCTIONS

Quiz Questions

• 1.
  The largest mammal on Earth today is the massive African elephant, which weighs an impressive six tonnes (6,000 kilograms) - over 20 times more than the largest wild mammal in modern Ireland, the red deer. However, in southern Asia in the late Ice Age there lived a giant elephant, 'Palaeoloxodon namadicus', that would have utterly dwarfed it in size. What weight could this Ice Age colossus reach?

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  • A.
    28 tonnes
  • B.
    16 tonnes
  • C.
    12 tonnes
  • D.
    22 tonnes
• 2.
  'Quinkana fortirostrum' was a massive, five-to-six-metre-long Ice Age terrestrial crocodile that differed massively from living crocodiles in having long legs and an upright stance. On which continent did this strange giant live?

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  • A.
    South America
  • B.
    Australia
  • C.
    Europe
  • D.
    Africa
• 3.
  Although many of the late Ice Age megafauna were enormous, the term 'megafauna' relates to any animal over 45 kilograms in weight, and among the megafaunal species to go extinct in northern Eurasia was the closest ancestor of modern Irish people, the Neanderthal. When roughly did the Neanderthals suffer extinction?

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  • A.
    80,000 years ago
  • B.
    20,000 years ago
  • C.
    60,000 years ago
  • D.
    40,000 years ago
• 4.
  According to one estimate, 'Diprotodon optatum', a member of Australia's late Ice Age megafauna and likely the largest marsupial to ever live, weighed an astonishing 2.7 tonnes and stood around 2.5 metres tall at the shoulder. But what did this giant look like?

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  • A.
    A colossal koala
  • B.
    A whopping wombat
  • C.
    A titanic Tasmanian devil
  • D.
    A bulky bandicoot
• 5.
  Modern humans are thought by many to have had a hand in the megafaunal extinctions, and in the Americas distinctive spear points have been found in association with mammoths and mastodons belonging to the Clovis culture. Where does the name Clovis come from?

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  • A.
    A town in New Mexico
  • B.
    A rock shelter in Arizona
  • C.
    A canyon in Chile
  • D.
    A forest in Belize
• 6.
  In recent decades it has become clear that one of the most iconic members of the late Ice Age megafauna, the woolly mammoth, survived on Earth for thousands of years longer than previously thought, the very latest evidence for its presence on Earth found on Wrangel Island off the coast of northeast Siberia. When does this evidence for the very last woolly mammoths date to, and what type of humans lived in Ireland at this time?

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  • A.
    1,700 years ago, Iron Age humans
  • B.
    7,700 years ago, Mesolithic hunter-gatherers
  • C.
    5,700 years ago, Neolithic farmers
  • D.
    3,700 years ago, Bronze Age humans
• 7.
  True or false? 'Varanus priscus', a massive monitor lizard, or goanna, that lived in Australia in the late Ice Age, was three times heavier than its close modern relative the komodo dragon, 'Varanus komodoensis', that stalks the islands of southeastern Indonesia.

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  • A.
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    True.
  • B.
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    False.
• 8.
  Many of the late Ice Age megafauna were larger than their modern relatives. The ancient camel 'Camelus knoblochi' could be almost twice the weight of living camels, while 'Tapirus augustus' was larger than any living tapir. At a maximum weight of 420 kilograms, 'Panthera atrox' was bigger than any big cat on Earth today, while the short-faced bear, 'Arctodus simus', outstripped our modern bears in size, weighing a whopping 800-1,000 kilograms. Which of these four giants lived in northern Eurasia, the region to which Ireland belongs?

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  • A.
    'Arctodus simus''
  • B.
    'Camelus knoblochi'
  • C.
    'Panthera atrox'
  • D.
    'Tapirus augustus'
• 9.
  Which of these great regions was least affected by the megafaunal extinctions?

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  • A.
    Australia
  • B.
    Northern Eurasia
  • C.
    Africa and southern Asia
  • D.
    North and South America
• 10.
  One hypothesis regarding the causes of the megafaunal extinctions relates many of them to the spread of modern humans worldwide. This hypothesis proposes that as modern humans arrived in new lands, the megafaunal species they encountered had not evolved behavioural strategies to co-exist with them and so were swiftly driven to extinction. What is the name of this hypothesis?

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  • A.
    Invader hypothesis
  • B.
    Ragnarok hypothesis
  • C.
    Blitzkrieg hypothesis
  • D.
    New Wave hypothesis

Quiz Outcomes

• 1.
  You've Gone Extinct! Better Luck Next Time.

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  Don't worry, this was a tough quiz, and more an invitation to discover more about the Megafaunal Extinctions than anything else.Click the Discover button below to find the answers to this quiz, a link to a series of fascinating blogs about the Megafaunal Extinctions, as well as links to two further quizzes on Ice Age Ireland and the Irish, English, and scientific names of Ireland's living mammals.
• 2.
  You're Alive! But Your Status Is Near Threatened.

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  You did quite well, this is a tough quiz. With a little more knowledge on the Megafaunal Extinctions, you could thrive!Click the Discover button below to find the answers to this quiz, a link to a series of fascinating blogs about the Megafaunal Extinctions, as well as links to two further quizzes on Ice Age Ireland and the Irish, English, and scientific names of Ireland's living mammals.
• 3.
  You're Thriving! Extinction Shmextinction.

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  You did unbelievably well, this is a tough quiz. But did you get 7 or 10, or something in-between?Click the Discover button below to find the answers to this quiz, a link to a series of fascinating blogs about the Megafaunal Extinctions, as well as links to two further quizzes on Ice Age Ireland and the Irish, English, and scientific names of Ireland's living mammals.