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Going, Going, Gone Trivia Quiz

In our current age, the risk of species becoming extinct is one that frequently comes to public attention. Here are a few species that lost the battle - some well before it became a contentious issue, and some despite every effort.

A multiple-choice quiz by reedy. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
reedy

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
342,015

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
7 / 10

Plays
1039

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. The last record of this wild cow's living existence was in 1627 in Poland. What was it called? Hint

Auroch

Gaur

Kouprey

Anoa

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Question 2 of 10

2. Perhaps one of the most well-known extinct species in recent history: They were discovered on the island of Mauritius in 1598, and before the year 1700 came along, they were extinct. What species?

Answer: (One or two words)

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Question 3 of 10

3. Discovered in 1741, it only took 27 years for this species of marine mammal to be wiped out. What was its name? Hint

Steller's Sea Cow

Dugong

Narwhal

Giant Otter

4. Records of this bird being hunted precede the 8th century. Even so, the species managed to survive until the mid-19th century. The last living pair of birds were strangled to death on 3rd July 1844 on an island near Iceland. Hint

Elephant Bird

Great Auk

Eskimo Curlew

Spectacled Cormorant

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Question 5 of 10

5. This breed of duck, known for its striking black and white colouring, also carried the nickname 'skunk duck'. Believed to be the first bird to become extinct in North America, it was named for a region of Canada where it was believed to nest. What was the name of this duck, last seen in 1878? Hint

Magdalen Duck

Newfoundland Duck

Labrador Duck

Gasp� Duck

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Question 6 of 10

6. This species has been extinct since 1883. They were a unique subspecies of zebra, where only the front portion of the animal had the distinctive zebra stripes, while the rear parts were a plain brown. What species? Hint

Quagga

Przewalski's Horse

Tarpan

Karacaby

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Question 7 of 10

7. One early Virginian settler wrote, "There are wild pigeons in winter beyond number or imagination, myself have seen three or four hours together flocks in the air, so thick that even have they shadowed the sky from us." The last one died in captivity in 1914. What was the name of the pigeon species?

Answer: (One Word)

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Question 8 of 10

8. Also known as the thylacine, this marsupial carnivore was first discovered in 1803. By 1918, there were no more sightings of thylacine in the wild, and the last one died in captivity in 1936. By what other name was it known? Hint

Tasmanian Tiger

Desert Bandicoot

Broad-faced Potoroo

Crescent Nail-tail Wallaby

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Question 9 of 10

9. The last reliable proof of the existence of the Caspian tiger, one of the largest cats to have existed, was in the early 1970s.

True

False

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Question 10 of 10

10. In the year 2006, a survey was conducted to find China's freshwater river dolphin. When they failed to find one, they declared the species functionally extinct. What is its name? Hint

Argali

Saiga

Jerboa

Baiji

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The last record of this wild cow's living existence was in 1627 in Poland. What was it called?

Answer: Auroch

According to wildcattleconservation.org, there were once 12 species of wild cattle that roamed in various parts of the world. Aurochs were prevalent in Europe, Asia and North Africa in their heyday, but hunting, a narrowing habitat due to farming and diseases transmitted by domestic cattle all contributed to the disappearance of the species by the year 1627.

The kouprey (forest ox) of Indochina has not been seen the 1980s and is also believed to be extinct. The gaur (Indian bison) and anoas (two species of Dwarf buffalo - Mountain and Lowland) are also wild cattle species that are struggling to survive.

2. Perhaps one of the most well-known extinct species in recent history: They were discovered on the island of Mauritius in 1598, and before the year 1700 came along, they were extinct. What species?

Answer: Dodo Bird

Dutch travelers were among the first to record observations of the Dodo, calling it 'walghvogel', which translates as 'wallow bird' or 'loathsome bird'. The origin of the name 'Dodo' is obscure, but three theories are:
1) from the Dutch word 'dodoor' meaning 'sluggard';
2) from the Dutch word 'dodaars' meaning 'knot-arse' (a reference to the tail feathers); and
3) from the Portuguese 'duodo' meaning 'fool' or 'crazy'.

(above info gleaned from the Wikipedia site on the Dodo)

3. Discovered in 1741, it only took 27 years for this species of marine mammal to be wiped out. What was its name?

Answer: Steller's Sea Cow

Steller's sea cow was named for Georg Wilhelm Steller, who first described the creature during the Kamchatka expedition led by Vitus Bering. Steller's sea cow was part of the order Sirenia, along with the dugong, and the different manatee species. Due to its large size (eight to nine meters in length), slow pace and apparent inability to submerge, Steller's sea cow was easy prey for hunters.

Answer: Great Auk

A small colony of no more than 50 birds was discovered on the small island of Eldey in 1935. The last pair (described in the question) were incubating an egg when they were killed, and the egg itself was smashed. (SOURCE: "No Turning Back: The Life and Death of Animal Species" by Ellis Richard)

According to the Wikipedia article on the great auk, one claim of a visual sighting in 1952 near Newfoundland was accepted by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, although no physical evidence was presented.

Answer: Labrador Duck

The disappearance of the Labrador duck is referred to as the Mystery Extinction because not much was learned about the bird and its biology before it disappeared. Even though it carried the name 'Labrador', the breeding range of the species was never positively identified.

Answer: Quagga

The quagga was once found in great numbers in South Africa, primarily in the Cape Province and Orange Free State. The only quagga known to have been photographed while still alive was a mare at London's zoo at Regent's Park in 1870. The belief that the quagga was a subspecies of the plains zebra has led to attempts to rebreed the species from existing zebras.

Answer: Passenger

The vast numbers of the passenger pigeon population may have made it seem like they could never truly be in danger of extinction. Human incursions into North America made such a happening only all too easy, when one considers that the female of the species only laid one egg per year. In addition to that, their vast numbers made them easy to hunt and with their primary food being acorns, chestnuts and beech nuts, their food source began to disappear at a prodigious rate.

(above quotation in the question taken from eco-action.org website on the passenger pigeon)

Answer: Tasmanian Tiger

The Tasmanian tiger was not truly a tiger. Another name that the thylacine was commonly known as was Tasmanian wolf. In reality, the animal was neither. It was a carnivorous marsupial, most closely related to the present-day Tasmanian devil. It had the appearance of being dog- or wolf-like in the face (or kangaroo-like, perhaps) while its back and hindquarters had stripes like that of a tiger.

9. The last reliable proof of the existence of the Caspian tiger, one of the largest cats to have existed, was in the early 1970s.

Answer: True

The Caspian tiger's range was, appropriately, in the region of the Caspian sea, and extending east into central Asia. The decline of the Caspian tiger was noted in different regions, from Iraq's last tiger killed in 1887, to 1922 in the Caucasus region, 1948 in Kazakhstan, and 1958 in Iran.

More remote regions also had their last sightings or killings, but there has been no evidence (photographic or otherwise) of Caspian tiger sightings since the early 1970s.

10. In the year 2006, a survey was conducted to find China's freshwater river dolphin. When they failed to find one, they declared the species functionally extinct. What is its name?

Answer: Baiji

The rapid decline of the baiji was a result of China's industrialization in the 20th century. While the baiji has not been 'officially' named extinct, the designation of being functionally extinct means that even if there are still baiji in existence, their numbers would not likely be large enough to maintain the species.

Source: Author reedy

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor gtho4 before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

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