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Quiz about Those Ravishing Rudists
Quiz about Those Ravishing Rudists

Those Ravishing Rudists Trivia Quiz


Not nudists, RUDISTS. What is a rudist? Rudists are clams with delusions of grandeur. They were the major reef-builders during the...Hey! If you want to find out more, you should take this quiz, buddy! It'll be interesting-- I promise!

A multiple-choice quiz by pu2-ke-qi-ri. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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Author
pu2-ke-qi-ri
Time
4 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
210,684
Updated
Sep 09 22
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
600
- -
Question 1 of 10
1. Consider the appearance of our friend, the rudist. One half of the shell has become conical and elongated. The other has been reduced to a little cap which sits on top of the other. Consequently, most rudists bear an uncanny resemblance to which tasty summer treat? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Let us also consider the pedigree of the rudist. To which group do rudists belong? (Hint: As I said in the introduction, clams with delusions of grandeur.) Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. While T. Rex was busy battling it out with Triceratops, rudists were busy covering Earth with carbonates. Let's see, during which period were rudists the major reef builders? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Imagine, if you will, that you are a rudist larva (larvum?) You're looking for some nice real estate to settle down. Which of these would you not be looking for? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Which of these is NOT one of rudists' amazing special powers? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Did most rudists have symbiotic photosynthetic algae, like corals?


Question 7 of 10
7. People who study rudists have a penchant for inventing some lovely new terminology. What, for instance, would you call a small assemblage of rudists? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Are there any rudists living today?


Question 9 of 10
9. Say you want to study rudists. Which of these vacation, I mean, research localities could you travel to? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Could you get a job in the fast-paced, high-paying field of studying rudists?



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Consider the appearance of our friend, the rudist. One half of the shell has become conical and elongated. The other has been reduced to a little cap which sits on top of the other. Consequently, most rudists bear an uncanny resemblance to which tasty summer treat?

Answer: Ice cream cone

Rudists, like all bivalves, consist of two valves. Early on, rudists did something to the geometry of their shells to make it so that the valves did not need to grow as coils. So, one valve grew conical and elongated (the ice cream cone), and the other became greatly reduced, and sat on the opening of the other valve like a little cap (the ice cream scoop.) The elongated end sank into the muddy substrate, and over half of the height of the rudist could be submerged in the sediment, something like a modern pen shell.

There are words to describe rudists based on their preferred orientation on the substrate: "Elevators," "Clingers," and "Recumbants."
2. Let us also consider the pedigree of the rudist. To which group do rudists belong? (Hint: As I said in the introduction, clams with delusions of grandeur.)

Answer: Bivalves

I'm not quite sure which group of bivalves rudists are most closely related to. There are several groups of rudists, all with a distinct structure to the shell. Rudists secreted shells made out of calcium carbonate, partly in the form of aragonite, and partly in the form of calcite. Aragonite is relatively unstable, so it is rare to find rudists with the aragonite still preserved.
3. While T. Rex was busy battling it out with Triceratops, rudists were busy covering Earth with carbonates. Let's see, during which period were rudists the major reef builders?

Answer: Cretaceous

Rudists evolved in the Jurassic. They had their heyday in the Cretaceous, but then went way of the dinosaurs. Rudist reefs tend to be flatter and wider than reefs built by, say, corals. And did you know, rudist experts even debate the accuracy of using the word "reef" to describe rudists? Since you probably don't want to bother with the difference between a reef, a bioherm, a biostrome, and a buildup, I personally am quite content with the word "reef." But if you find yourself at a cocktail party with someone who studies rudists...well, you have been warned.
4. Imagine, if you will, that you are a rudist larva (larvum?) You're looking for some nice real estate to settle down. Which of these would you not be looking for?

Answer: Matching wallpaper

Rudists liked the same sorts of environments that corals do: normal marine salinity, almost always the ocean; tropical to temperate regions; and shallow, nutrient-rich water. Different types of rudists liked different sorts of living conditions. You can tell this by watching the number and types of rudist species change across several localities through time. If one type of rudist disappears from one site at one particular time, but not the others, you can guess that something about the environment changed that that species of rudist wasn't too happy with.
5. Which of these is NOT one of rudists' amazing special powers?

Answer: Locomoting

Nope, our action-packed rudists spent their days sitting in the substrate, filter-feeding, secreting carbonates, and reproducing. What a thrilling life.
6. Did most rudists have symbiotic photosynthetic algae, like corals?

Answer: No

It seems a few rudists had symbiotic photosynthetic algae, but they were the few, the proud. Filter-feeding provided all the food for most rudists. How do people know this if there are no extant rudists, you might ask? Uh...
7. People who study rudists have a penchant for inventing some lovely new terminology. What, for instance, would you call a small assemblage of rudists?

Answer: A bouquet

If anyone wants to show up at my house on prom night with a bouquet of rudists, I would be thrilled. I suppose this name came about because some rudists tend to form a sort of bouquet-shaped masses. If you are a fan of Keeping Up Appearances, then I suppose we could have "The Bouquet residence, the rudist of the house speaking!"
8. Are there any rudists living today?

Answer: No

Sort of a sad fact. I wonder what a rudist fritter would taste like. No, rudists died out at the end of the Cretaceous, but whether for the same reasons as the dinosaurs is up for debate. Take Jamaica, for instance. The rudists had been living on a shelf constructed by an active volcano.

When big chunks of the shelf broke off and sank into deeper water, it was curtains for the rudists.
9. Say you want to study rudists. Which of these vacation, I mean, research localities could you travel to?

Answer: Any of these

Rudists have been found and studied in Spain, Texas, Italy, Turkey, Croatia, Mexico, Jamaica, Greece, the Dominican Republic, Tunisia, Cuba, Iran, Austria, Algeria, Egypt, Oman, and Puerto Rico. Where there be Cretaceous carbonate rocks, there probably be rudists.
10. Could you get a job in the fast-paced, high-paying field of studying rudists?

Answer: Yes

A surprising number of people study rudists-- somewhere between fifty and a hundred, perhaps? International Rudist Conventions are held every three years, located in the past in such lovely places as Croatia, Texas, and Australia. The 2008 meeting will be held in Turkey.

There seems to be a tradition that after a day of talks, everyone goes out to dinner together, and after the food and the wine, everyone sits around and SINGS. Nothing beats a bouquet of rudistophiles doing their rendition of "O Sole Mio"!
Source: Author pu2-ke-qi-ri

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor crisw before going online.
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