Snowmageddon

15 Points Per Correct Answer - No time limit  

1. Scientists tell us that we are still living in the ice age, since by definition, an ice age is marked by the establishment of 'permanent' ice sheets. Our polar regions give us that. However, cycles of warming and cooling make for different 'glacial' and 'interglacial' periods. For the past (roughly) 12,000 years, humankind has been living in an interglacial period called the Holocene. 'Please' tell me, what is the name of the overarching Ice Age epoch that came before the Holocene? Pleistocene Miocene Pliocene Oligocene

2. The most recent glaciation (the last glacial maximum), called the Wisconsin Stage, occurred between 26,000 and 19-20,000 years ago. Ice sheets (that got as thick as two miles in Quebec) extended down to a latitude that runs right through the middle of present-day Wisconsin. To approximately what latitude did these ice sheets extend? 45 degrees north latitude 30 degrees north latitude 50 degrees north latitude 15 degrees north latitude

3. At the height of the last glaciation, so much of the Earth's water was in the form of ice that scientists believe that the oceans were at least 280 feet lower than they are today -- some estimates go as much as 425 feet below current levels. Suffice to say, that opened up some land that today would be under water. One such land bridge, believed to have been where people first came to the Americas, extended between present-day Siberia and Alaska. It is named for the same explorer whose name adorns the sea and strait in the same place today. What is it called? Beringia Byrd Bridge Amundsental Pearydom

4. Two theories regarding the human settlement of North America are the 'short' and 'long' chronology theories, both involving migration across a land bridge. The 'short' theory states that human settlement only came during the last glacial maximum, while the 'long' theory believes that immigration came up to 30,000 years prior to that and came in multiple waves. Are these the only theories that have been presented that explain human existence in the Americas? Yes No

5. The world was in flux during the transition from the last glacial maximum to our current warmer period. Many differing views have been presented as to the reason why some species survived while others did not, and perhaps no one reason stands alone to explain. Which of these is NOT a theory that has been proposed? Hunting by dinosaurs Hunting by humans Changing climate Comet 'shower'

6. Despite the popular name 'saber-tooth tiger', this large cat, extinct circa 10,000 BCE, actually belonged to the Machairodontinae subfamily of Felidae (not Pantheria). What is its proper name? Cave lion Smilodon Scimitar cat Siberian tiger

7. 'Mastodon' and 'Mammoth' are just two different names for the same species. True False

8. It is agreed by paleontologists that the giant ground sloth, also known as 'Megatherium', was the largest land mammal to ever have existed. True False

9. You've heard of 'Woolly Mammoths', I'm sure, but which of these other 'woolly' creatures existed during the ice age? Woolly Dodo Woolly Lion Woolly Rhinoceros Woolly Coelacanth

10. Among the species that survived past the end of the last glaciation, but nevertheless is today extinct, was Megaloceros giganteus. By what other name was it known? Canadian Tiger Spanish Bear Irish Elk Russian Armadillo