1. What’s Your Biodiversity IQ?
Your chance to find out what you know about the world’s diverse plants, animals and natural places.

2. 1. Which of the following could the fastest human outrun in a 100 yard race?
Answer:
Cheetah
Wart hog
Three-toed sloth
Domestic cat
Wild turkey
Wart Hog
Wild Turkey
Lots of animals are quick on their feet (or wings, or scales, or fins), but speed doesn’t necessarily count much these days in the race for survival.
Cheetahs, for example, are the fastest land animals in the world – but they’re also among the most endangered.
Domestic Cat
Cheetah
Three-Toed Sloth

3. 2. Which of the following actually exist?
Answer:
Some slime molds have 2 phases in life cycle:
In reproductive stage, they are stationary with a stalk that produces spores.
Also exist as amoeba-like organism that feed by engulfing material and moving up to several feet per day.
Ants that “herd” aphids for food
Slime molds that creep across the ground
Flowers that “trick” insects into mating with them
None of the above
Ants eat the sugary substances excreted by aphids (insects that suck plant juices).
Ants herd colonies of aphids by moving them from place to place & protecting them from enemies.
The bee-like flowers of the orchid Ophrys speculum attract male bees that are so deceived by the resemblance to female bees that they attempt to mate with the flowers.
In the process, the males bring pollen from other “females” (flowers).

4. 3. What does a large adult bluefin tuna have in common with a Porsche 911?
Answer:
Ability to go from 0 to 60 MPH in 4.7 seconds
Big fins
A sticker price of about $60,000
Both can cost at least $60,000.
Overfishing has made this tuna extremely rare.
And, you could say that both the car and the fish have big fins …

5. 4. Which of the following best describes the word biodiversity?
Answer:
Endangered species
Different kinds of planets in the solar system
The variety of life on Earth
A bunch of biographies about famous biologists
The variety of life on Earth includes plants, animals, microorganisms, ecosystems, genes, cultural diversity and more.

6. 5. U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service agents and U. S
5. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service agents and U.S. Custom officials in Los Angeles, CA, once found which of the following strapped to a man’s arms & legs?
If this illegal trade did not exist, the future of African elephants, rhinos, Asiatic bears, and many more species would be much brighter.
Answer:
18 California king snakes
45 pounds of elephant ivory
16 sea turtle eggs
16 vampire bats
The man planned to sell the snakes in Taiwan; instead, he was prosecuted & sentenced to 6 months in jail.
Although this is an unusual story of illegal trade, annual trade in wildlife is estimated at $10 billion & up to 25% is illegal.
Sea Turtle Eggs
Elephant Ivory
California King Snake
Vampire Bat

7. 6. Scientists studying bug zappers have learned some interesting facts
6. Scientists studying bug zappers have learned some interesting facts. Which of the following are among them?
Answer:
Many species of mosquitoes are not attracted to bug zappers at all.
Instead the zappers’ blue light attracts harmless insects, many of which are food for birds, bats & fish.
Some of these insects are important to plants, which need them for pollination.
Insects are attracted to bug zappers because of the zappers’ smoky smell.
Bug zappers are great for ridding summer nights of mosquitoes.
Bug zappers could be bad news
for certain birds, fish, bats, and
flowers.
d. There are more than 4 million
bug zappers being used in the U.S.

8. 7. Blackpoll warblers are tiny birds that migrate between North America & South America each year. Which of the following statements about them are true?
Answer:
They use the stars for navigation.
They make frequent pit stops at fast-food restaurants.
They don’t need to migrate.
If they burned gasoline instead of body fat for fuel, they’d get 720,000 miles to the gallon.
Migrating animals often use sun, stars, & land patterns to reach their destinations.
Many migrators are able to get where they’re going with little fuel.
Migrating animals are threatened by habitat destruction.
International efforts to conserve habitat are very important.

9. 8. Which of the following can be considered an enemy of coral reefs?
Answer:
Starfish
Jewelry
Sunken treasure
Divers
Coral reefs are very diverse – supporting more than 3000 species of fish and other life.
Outbreaks of predatory crown-of-thorns starfish are natural, but
Human activity reduces corals ability to recover from damage.

10. 9. What’s the most serious threat to biodiversity?
Answer:
Sharks
Habitat loss
Tourists
Pollution
Worldwide, habitats are lost to agricultural land, harvested for wood & fuel, destroyed or changed for roads, schools, malls, housing, etc.
Human population is growing so quickly & consuming so many natural resources that habitat loss is occurring at a rapid rate.

11. 10. The items on the left have been (or are being) developed into important medicines for humans. Match each item with the medicine it inspired.
Answers:
___ bread mold
___ white willow tree
___ vampire bat saliva
___ wild yams
___ Caribbean coral
Anti-inflammatory
Antibiotic
Pain reliever
Medicine to unclog arteries
First-aid ointment b
More than ¼ of the drugs commonly used today were originally derived from plants.
Animals are a potential source too.
Medical research looks to areas with high biodiversity to find treatments & cures for human diseases. c d a e

12. 11. Which of the following are true statements about camels?
Answer:
They store water in their humps.
During cooler weather, they can go up to two months without drinking.
They played a key role in opening up trade across the deserts of Asia and Africa.
They provide people with milk, meat, cooking fuel (in the form of dried dung), wool and leather.
Camels store fat – not water – in their humps.
In cooler months, they can actually go for up to three months without drinking.
Camels have been important to desert peoples for thousands of years.
Camels are a good example of the many creatures around the world that have helped shape human culture.

13. 12. Without fungi, which of the following would you not be able to do?
Answer:
Eat pizza topped with pepperoni and mushrooms
Bake bread
Live in a world free of dead things lying all over the place
Put blue cheese dressing on your salad.
While some forms of fungi may seem less than noble (like Athlete’s foot fungus), the world could not function long without fungi.
Fungi play a key role in breaking down organic matter & recycling it back into useable nutrients.

14. 13. Which of the following statements are true?
Answer:
Potatoes originated in Ireland.
The U.S. grows most of its baking potatoes in Washington.
More than 5,000 different kinds of potatoes have been identified in South America’s Andes Mountains.
The French fry, invented by Madame Bonaparte during the French revolution became one of Napoleon’s favorite snacks.
The potato originated in South America.
In Peru, some families grow dozens of varieties of potatoes.
Most U.S. potatoes are grown in Idaho. Washington is the 2nd largest producer of potatoes in the U.S.

15. 14. Which of the following are real species of animals?
Answer:
As far as we know, werewolves are just fiction!
Vampire moths pierce the skin of mammals to drink their blood.
Tasmanian devils are the largest carnivorous marsupials.
Komodo dragons grow up to 10 feet long and weigh up to 300 pounds.
Vampire moths
Tasmanian devils
Komodo dragons
Werewolves

16. 150 About 3,000 652,983 More than 1.5 million
15. If you decided to throw a party to celebrate the diversity of life on Earth and wanted to send an invitation to each species, how many invitations would you need?
Answer:
150
About 3,000
652,983
More than 1.5 million
Scientists have estimated more than 100 million species may actually exist on Earth.

17. 16. Which of the following statements about ostriches are true?
Answer:
They hide their heads in the sand.
Their meat is so tasty that some people are choosing it over beef for burgers.
They fly when no one is looking.
They can outrun a lion or hyena.
It’s a myth that ostriches hide their heads in the sand.
Actually, they’re lying with their necks flat against the ground to hide from predators.

18. 17. If the number of species on Earth was represented by physical size, which of the following would most accurately illustrate the proportion of insects to mammals?
Answer: a. b. c.
Bugs rule!
There are 250 insect species to every one mammal species – and that’s only the insects we know about.
Scientists think there are millions more insects yet to be discovered.

19. 18. Biodiversity includes
Answer:
Biodiversity describes the incredible variety of life on Earth.
Genetic diversity could include inherited traits.
Species diversity could include the variety of organisms surrounding us.
Ecosystem diversity could include the range of habitats found worldwide.
The color of your eyes
The creatures in your neighborhood soil
Antarctica
Your classmates

20. Gorillas Chickens Ants Turtles
19. If there were a prize for “the strongest creature for its size,” which of the following would win?
Answer:
Gorillas
Chickens
Ants
Turtles
An ant can carry a load up to 50 times its body weight.

21. 20. Which of the following would people have to do without if there were no bees?
Answer:
Almonds
Honey
Cucumbers
Apples
Celery
Bees are worth billions of dollars to the agriculture industry.
Bees pollinate millions of acres of many of our fruits & vegetables.

22. 21. Which of the following is an example of an ecosystem service?
Ecosystem services are the “free” services provided by ecosystems.
Answer:
Ladybugs eat aphids, which are common garden pests.
A ladybug that protects your garden by eating aphid pests
A company that rakes people’s yards
A wetland that filters dirty water
An ocean that controls the Earth’s climate
Wetlands control floods, filter pollutants & provide habitat for many organisms.
Oceans & atmosphere interact to control climate.

23. A lobster’s mouth A termite’s gut A rhino’s gut A human’s forehead
22. Some of the world’s most fascinating creatures live in really unusual places. Which of the following is sometimes a home for another living thing?
Answer:
A lobster’s mouth
A termite’s gut
A rhino’s gut
A human’s forehead
Lobster’s mouth:
Termite’s gut:
Many (if not most) organisms have symbiotic relationships with other organisms. Often the microscopic protozoans, bacteria & mites help the host creature.

24. 23. If you had a job that put you in charge of saving all the species on the edge of extinction in the U.S., about how many endangered species would you need to save (based on what we know today)?
Answer: 12
250
517
1,082
Some scientists estimate that up to 27,000 species go extinct each year.
And, we never even knew that most of them existed.
This is the number of plants & animals listed as threatened and endangered in the U.S. by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

25. 24. A small population of beluga whales lives in Canada’s St
24. A small population of beluga whales lives in Canada’s St. Lawrence River. Which of the following explains why they are threatened?
Answer:
In winter the river freezes, making it nearly impossible for the whales to surface for air.
Beluga steaks are considered a delicacy in many parts of the world.
The areas of the river where the whales feed are heavily polluted, and as a result the whales are contaminated with toxins.
The river’s water is really too shallow for such large mammals.
Belugas have died from eating too many contaminated fish.
Belugas that die and wash up on the river banks are actually classified as “toxic waste”.

26. 25. Which of the following environments on our planet are too harsh to support life?
Answer:
Boiling sulfur springs
Deep-sea hydrothermal vents called “smokers”, where the temperature can reach 662 degrees.
The frigid ice of the Arctic & Antarctic
All of the above
None of the above
Life has been discovered in all of these harsh locations.