Extinct and Endangered Species BIG Quiz

This big, 20 question quiz was created as a companion to help the readers of “The Number Six Trials” more confidently navigate through its dense themes.

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The world of “The Number Six Trials” may be a work of fiction, but the disaster explored in it echoes the very real tragedies that weave in and out of our planet’s natural history.

This quiz explores real-life examples of endangered and extinct animals, to help you test your knowledge, deepen your understanding of the novella’s themes, and examine the fragility of life on our Earth, that our ever-advancing technology might lead us to one day rule.

If you’d like to start with a small quiz, try the 5 question mini Extinct and Endangered Animals quiz, or the 10 question medium Extinct and Endangered Animals quiz.

Ready? Let’s go.

Known for its distinctive black and white fur and love for bamboo, what endangered bear species, of which there were only around one thousand left in the wild a few decades ago, is a global icon for conservation efforts?

Sun bear (Helarctos malayanus).

Polar bear (Ursus maritimus).

The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca).

Which of these human species are not extinct?

Homo habilis.

Homo sapiens neanderthalensis.

Homo sapiens sapiens.

Due to human influence, this land mammal endemic to Canada lost almost 80% of its population between the 80s and early 2000s. Serious efforts to stop their extinction have been established since then. Today, there are more of them than thirty years ago. Which animal is it?

Vancouver Island marmot (Marmota vancouverensis).

Alaska moose (Alces alces gigas).

Grey wolf (Canis lupus).

What is the term used for an animal species that no longer exists anywhere in the world?

Endemic.

Endangered.

Extinct.

What was one of the results of the fifth mass extinction event?

An increase in global biodiversity.

The dominance of insects.

The rise of mammals as the dominant land animals.

How many grand mass extinction events have there been in the history of our planet?

Five.

Two.

None.

This small rabbit is the smallest rabbit species in the world, and is currently an endangered species.

Cottontail rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus).

Pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis).

European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus).

What is the name of the ongoing sixth mass extinction event?

The Cambrian explosion.

The Holocene extinction.

Triassic–Jurassic extinction.

The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) maintains a list to highligh species at rick of extinction. What is the name of that list?

Red List of Threatened Species.

Blue List of Threatened Species.

Green List of Threatened Species.

10.

Which international organization maintains a "Red List of Threatened Species" to highlight animals at risk of extinction?

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

World Trade Organization (WTO).

World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

11.

Facing threats from habitat loss and car collisions by humans, what small wild cat with excellent swimming skills, the rarest subspecies of leopard cat, is a critically endangered resident of a Japanese island?

Iriomote cat (Prionailurus bengalensis iriomotensis).

Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis).

Pallas's cat (Otocolobus manul).

12.

This animal only lives on Cozumel Island, and is currently an endangered species.

Pygmy racoon (Procyon pygmaeus).

White-bellied spider monkey (Ateles belzebuth).

Mexican agouti (Dasyprocta mexicana).

13.

Which of these stories of a species changing very quickly due to human influence is true?

When the Industrial Revolution caused soot from English factories to darken the nearby trees, the population of peppered moths, who were mostly light in color, started changing. In a process called "Industrial melanism", the dark moths, who could now blend in better with the soot-darkened trees, reliably started outnumbering the light ones.

When humans starting making glass-covered buildings, several butterfly species were observed to have started evolving completely transparent wings to blend in better with the glass facades.

With cigarette butts becoming ubiquitous in urban environments, city pigeons have developed a unique digestive adaptation. They can now break down and utilize the nicotine and other chemicals found in cigarettes as a source of energy.

14.

Conservation efforts play a crucial role in protecting endangered species. Which of these is a viable conservation strategy used to help animals?

Encouraging people to keep endangered animals as pets.

Introducing new predator species to control prey populations.

Creating protected areas.

15.

This large bird that evolved to be flightless due to lack of predators before humans arrived to Mauritius, goes by the Latin name Raphus cucullatus, and was driven into extinction by human influence.

Wake Island rail.

The great auk.

The dodo bird.

16.

In scientific notation, what symbol is used to indicate that a species is no longer living on Earth?

†

17.

This flightless bird, that went extinct in the 1940s, is thought to have been hunted to extinction by soldiers who were stranded on the island. Which one?

The dodo bird (Raphus cucullatus).

The great auk (Pinguinus impennis).

Wake Island rail (Hypotaenidia wakensis).

18.

Closely related to the Siberian tiger, this animal was tragically lost from the wild in the latter half of the 20th century by being hunted by humans to extinction. Which animal was it?

Caspian tiger.

Tasmanian tiger.

Bengal tiger.

19.

When was Earth hit by a meteor that caused the fifth mass extinction event?

4.5 billion years ago.

66 million years ago.

100 thousand years ago.

20.

When humans introduce a non-native predator to an environment with prey animals that haven't evolved defenses against the new predator, the result can be devastating. Which of these events happened as described?

The Red Fox, not native to Australia, was introduced by European settlers in the mid-1800s to replicate the traditional sport of fox hunting enjoyed back in their homelands. As very efficient predators, the red foxes drove the population of Woylies - small, furry marsupials native to Australia - into complete extinction by the 20th century.

Brown Treesnakes, not native to Guam, likely arrived on the island during World War II on military cargo ships. They readily feasted on the unsuspecting Guam Rails, flightless birds whose lack of evolutionary defense against snakes made them easy prey. Within a few decades, Guam Rails, also known as Ko'ko', became functionally extinct in the wild.

The Thylacine, nicknamed "Tasmanian tiger," had a dog-like body and a kangaroo-like pouch, and was the largest land carnivore native to mainland Australia for millenia. When humans arrived there, around 4,000 years ago, they introduced the Dingo, native to Southeast Asia, into the Australian ecosystem. The newly introduced wild dogs outcompeted the Thylacine for food and resources and drove them into being completely extinct in the wild within a few centuries.

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