Fauna of Bermuda Trivia Quiz

Answer:

Since Bermuda is several hundred miles off the North American coast, species arrived there most often if they could fly or swim. In addition, some types of animals are somewhat limited in Bermuda, with six species of reptiles, four species of mammals (all bats), and zero species of amphibians endemic to the country. I also suspect that Bermuda being a small (in terms of size) island, might have kept most animals there from growing large. Since the 1500s, humans have introduced quite a number of species to the islands-either on purpose or accidentally.

The endemic animals are the diamondback terrapin, which can also be found in the eastern and southeastern United States. It is named after the diamond-shaped pattern on the shell or carapace. The rock lizard or skink is a small lizard found in coastal areas. The hoary bat is one of four bat species found on Bermuda and which is also found in a large part of the Americas.

The bird known as the cahow is named for the cry it makes and is a relatively rare bird, only being rediscovered in the 20th century. The white-tailed tropicbird is found in the tropical regions of the Atlantic and the Pacific. The chick-of-the-village, or white-eyed vireo, is a small songbird also found in the eastern United States and Mexico.

The red land crab is found in a large part of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The blue-striped grunt is a fish also found throughout the western Atlantic. The orange sea squirt is an invertebrate that looks vaguely like a small bottle.

Many of the non-endemic species have also been invasive in other parts of the world. Cane toads and whistling frogs are connected to the introduction of orchids to Bermuda. The house mouse and brown rat were accidentally introduced by early settlers. The barn owl and mourning dove arrived in the 20th century. The big-headed ant arrived on the island in the late 1800s.