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Nature and Wildlife Quiz
1. Nature and Wildlife
By Chazz and Bhaskar
At Kolkata Quiz Festival Season 8
11 January 2019
An Open Written Quiz
2. House Rules
There shall be 40 questions split into 2 rounds.
+1 for each correct answer.
No Negatives.
Multiples of 5 are *-ed
Half points awarded on QMs’ discretion. However
there are no ½ *s.
1-20: Chazz, 21-40: Bhaskar
Sandman Quizzing rules apply
The decision of the QMs shall be final
3. 1. Legend has it that a poverty stricken
Taiwanese farmer found a small plant growing
in his field. He was struck by its beauty and,
realizing that he might be able to use this to
escape poverty, he decided to grow and sell
these mysterious plants that were growing in
his field. He soon became one of the
wealthiest people in Taiwan.
What plant is being talked about here?
5. 2. Au contraire to the spelling, the name of
this species of crocs is actually tautological
and they don’t really spring out from the
water brandishing a knife or a gun asking for
cash.
ID.
7. 3. Amongst quite a few other critters
bestowed with this moniker, the Silverfish and
small winged insects of the Psocoptera order
truly deserve this because of their affinity
towards polysaccharides such as starches and
dextrin, thus leading them to be found
mostly at a very particular place in urban
households.
What moniker am I talking about?
9. 4. This was developed under an initiative
titled “Project Muscle” in 1960 , which was
ultimately halted as no use for this product
was found at that time; It was only used in
a few Dodge and Plymouth racing car
models. Steve Jobs contacted the
company again in 2006 for implementing it
in an Apple product and that is when it
came into limelight again and is in use
ever since.
ID the company and the product.
11. 5. To Spanish/Portuguese explorers the aerial
roots of the shortleaf fig tree (p.n.s) reminded
them of a (predominantly) mammalian
feature.
This is one of the purported reasons behind
the naming of a country and a half.
ID both.
14. 6. The effectiveness of this behavioral
adaptation, exhibited by many animals as an
escape mechanism, is often attributed to
Newton’s second law of motion. The said
animals are usually lighter than their
pursuant(s) and hence this allows them to
execute this much smoothly with lesser
exertion than them.
What trait am I talking about?
18. 8. The chemical Nepetalactone, present most
commonly in some plants of the genus
Nepeta, is known to have medicinal as well as
insect and pest repellant properties amongst
others.
Give me the common name of these plants
which comes from the fact that the chemical
often produces an almost euphoric
psychosexual response including rubbing of
cheeks and chins, licking, and biting.
20. 9. Give me the two-word tautological
common name of this large freshwater
predatory fish found in South America which
is named because of its striking coloration.
22. 10. The pictures in the following slide shows
the search trend for a particular creature
since 2011.
What creature? What was the reason for the
spike in Sep, 2018?
24. 11. This fantastically weird arachnid (p.n.s)
actually has a visible neck, is named because
of its resemblance to an avian species, and
the whole family exhibits an unique trait in
terms of their preferred prey.
• What is it commonly called?
• What is the unique trait it exhibits?
Half points going.
29. 13. This has been argued widely amongst
linguists and etymologists. Some say that it is
because of its resemblance to a particular
variety from West Africa which was sold to
European consumers by tradesmen from
Constantinople. Others believe the British
confused the variety supplied by the
Portuguese from North America with the one
traded by the Mamelukes.
What am I talking about?
31. 14. According to National Geographic, the
capability of this creature (and other
members of its genus) to move its hind limbs
at 5 ft/sec grants it a temporary superpower.
Give me its name which was given as a result
of this ability.
33. 15. Normally, Norwegian fishing authorities
order remains of large aquatic life to be
towed to the sea and sunk in deep water.
For what did they make an exception and
allowed an inland burial in 2003?
37. 17. Said to be partially (if not wholly)
responsible for restoring an ecosystem.
Where? X?
Elk population decreased.
Aspen and Willow trees started to thrive.
Birds and Beavers started
to return.
Beaver dams created pools and drew fish and
more plant life.
X (1995)
39. 18. In the River Monsters episode titled
Atomic Assassin, at what specific place did
angler Jeremy Wade battle and catch Wels
Catfish which are reported to grow to
monstrous sizes at that place because of lack
of human intervention?
40. The cooling pond of Chernobyl;
Just Chernobyl or Pripyat gets you half points
41. 19. Throughout the Northern part of N.
America one can come across trees and utility
poles like the ones pictured on the next slide
which serve as markers for ‘knowledgeable’
humans passing through. For what
(sometimes quite comical and meme-worthy)
reason do these look this way?
44. 20. The hills pictured in the next slide turn a
rich shade of brown as the grass on them
dries up during a dry spell. Someone had
remarked that during this time they resemble
a popular product leading them to be named
after the generic version.
Give me both the product and name of the
hills.
50. 22. The scientific names of 7 tiger subspecies
mostly refer to the place of their incidence–
amoyensis, balinicus, sumatraensis etc etc
Only one subspecies, the IndoChinese Tiger,
has its scientific name in honour of an
individual
Who is the person in question?
56. 24. Discovered in 2018, this blind amphibian
Dermophis __________ leaves in cool, moist
peaty soil, and is particularly susciptable to
climate change
It’s usual way of stimulus avoidance is to bury
its head underground , and try to escape
After whom was it named?
59. 25. The seeds of this invasive weed X(pic next
slide) reached India, intentionally or
otherwise, along with shipments of PL 480
wheat in the early 1950s
Poisonous, allergic and causing great damage
to both cultivated crops and biodiversity,
farmers thought it was a deliberate attempt
by organization Y to impoverish them.
Thus the widely known name of the plant in
India is Y ghaas
Both X and Y please
63. 26. This bird is widespread across Eurasia and
Africa and culturally depicted across the range
It has a very strong homing instinct, returning
to within a few hundred metre of it’s nesting
site even after long periods of confinement
Country X in 1960 voted it as it’s most suitable
national bird. Bird and country please
69. 28. Polls of visitors to Tiger reserves in India
indicate that tiger sighting is the prime
attraction for well over 90% of them
However, a similar exercise for people
entering the Periyar Tiger reserve might
show the percentage to be in the low teens
What is the chief attraction in that forest?
75. 30. From about 1870, around 130 known
species have performed the Lessepian
migration, having extended their range from
X to Y
Since X is at a slightly higher level than Y, the
reverse direction has seen only about 37
anti-Lessepian migrant species
X and Y please
77. X- Red Sea, Y- Mediterranean Sea,
Connected in 1869 by Ferdinand Lesseps
78. 31. Members of community X in India(and
elsewhere) have made a pledge to request
non-usage of drug Y on themselves, so as to
help perpetuate a custom.
It is the use of Y on other species though
which have since the mid 1980s endangered
the custom
Give me X and the custom
80. Parsis
Feeding of dead bodies by vultures,
populations of which have fallen by more
than 95% by the use of diclofenac on cattle
81. 32. Having begun around 4200 years before
present, the X is the latest geological age ,
named after the Indian state
It’s geological signature was detected in the
Mawmluh cave formation---- one of the
longest and deepest caves in India, and
conditions here were suitable for preserving
chemical signs of the transition in ages.
Name it
84. 33. Subject of a GI tussle, this breed of all
black chicken is being touted as a
superfood—low cholesterol , high iron and
protein, and a cure for many ailments.
Identify.
87. 34 In Greek and Roman mythology, X are half-
human and half-bird personification of storm
winds-- depicted as ravenous birds with the
heads of maidens, faces pale with hunger and
long claws on their hands.
Name the largest extant species of predatory
birds, which they lend their name to
90. 35. According to X, following the Victorian era
language of flowers, flower A means
‘remembered beyond the tomb’ and signifies
“beauty, elegance, sweetness’.
Flower B is susceptible to damage and best
grown in a container or basket, and needs
shelter from the wind and plenty of light. It is
also a flower that can, in the language of
flowers, mean ‘resentment and anger’.
Who is X? What are the two flowers?
93. 36. The X has been forming since about 1950s,
and was first described in 1988.Estimates of
size range from 700,000 square kilometres to
more than 15,000,000 square kilometres , and
weighs about 9 billion tonnes, and adverely
affects about 25% of Human population.What
are we talking about?
96. 37. Contrary to popular belief, X was roughly
the size of a turkey, considerably smaller
than the assumed approximately 2 m tall and
80 kg beast, and covered in possibly purple
feathers
However it’s hollowed out bones and large
muscles did aid in fast movement and there
are evidences of coordinated pack hunting.
What are we talking about?
99. 38. The Fiji Crested Iguana (pic next slide)
lives in remote rocky islands in the South
Pacific,often seen sunning themselves at lava
outcrops
It was identified as a new species by a
herpentologist in 1980, who saw footage of
one during the premiere of a movie released
that year
It is also referred to as the X Y iguana.
Identify
103. 39. This plant X(p.n.s) grew wild in the
mountains of Peru but found it’s greatest
usage in the expanding British empire in
Africa and Asia as a source of a preventive
medicine
Early 19th century British officers were infact
alotted a daily quota, to which most added
soda, sugar and other additives to make it
more palatable, thus giving rise to iconic
product Y
X and Y please
107. 40. X is the species of large mammal with the
widest natural range apart from humans,
though their presence outside the known
range(map follows) was only confirmed in
2016
Ys, a group of large mammals, were found in
a particular country outside the range shown,
but went extinct by the 1850s
Had the extended range of X been known, or
Ys not been extinct in that country by 1974, a
particular conversation might not have raised
eyebrows
X, Y and the conversation please
