From cat killers to hyperactive eels: the nature quiz of the year

Composite: Barcroft Media/Getty

1. 

   An octopus at Vancouver aquarium was named after a celebrity by public vote in November. What was it called?

   1. Ceph Rogen

   2. Octovia Spencer

   3. Squid Vicious

   4. Sucker Carlson

2. Which of these attributes is not possessed by the Mary river “punk” turtle?

   1. A green mohican

   2. The ability to breathe through its genitals

   3. The ability to perform an aquatic “song” that faintly resembles the opening bars of God Save the Queen by the Sex Pistols

   4. Exceptionally long finger-like “barbels” that hang from its lower jaw

3. Which alpha male stands proud at 1.94 metres (6ft 4in) tall and why is he alive today?

   1. Donald Trump, who attributes his survival to three daily cheeseburgers

   2. Gerry the unusually short giraffe, spared by US trophy hunters because of his stumpy neck

   3. The much fabled Yeti, revealed to be a hybrid bear, according to analysis of a small stretch of its mitochondrial DNA

   4. Knickers the steer, from Western Australia, who is too big for the abattoir

4. 

   In a study of the weight, or biomass, of every living thing, what percentage did the world’s 7.6 billion people account for and what percentage did plants?

   1. 0.01% and 82%

   2. 3% and 43%

   3. 23% and 61%

   4. 65% and 15%

5. 

   What was not found in the stomach of a dead sperm whale washed ashore in eastern Indonesia?

   1. A nylon sack

   2. 115 plastic cups

   3. Two flip-flops

   4. A tattered photograph of Sir David Attenborough

6. 

   What crack team did police announce had been (i) killing cats around Croydon and (ii) nibbling their heads off?

   1. (i) An unidentified drug-addicted professional dog-walker and (ii) her dogs

   2. (i) An unidentified psychopath and (ii) his pet lynx

   3. (i) Uber drivers and (ii) rats

   4. (i) Cars and (ii) foxes

7. Three of these four species reappeared in 2018. Which is the odd one out and is diving towards extinction?

   1. Wolves on the island of Åaland, Finland

   2. Pine martens in Kielder Forest, Northumberland

   3. The chequered skipper butterfly in Rockingham Forest, Northamptonshire

   4. Breeding curlew in southern England

8. 

   Why are eels becoming hyperactive and damaging their muscles?

   1. They spend too much time playing Fortnite

   2. They are drinking Coca-Cola washed into rivers

   3. They are consuming cocaine washed into rivers

   4. They are overstimulated by lights on the increasing number of Mediterranean cruise ships

9. Who is a surprising new member of the Green party – and what else is surprising about him?

   1. The social media comedian Dapper Laughs (and he is scared of pigeons)

   2. The actor Danny Dyer (and he is campaigning to reintroduce red squirrels near his home in Epping Forest)

   3. The Scottish international footballer Russell Martin (and he is vegan)

   4. The former Daily Mail columnist Quentin Letts (and he sets a nightly moth trap in his Herefordshire garden)

10. 

    “That x is so lucky. I have never seen such a beautiful x.” Which living thing did Donald Trump admire in 2018?

    1. Peas, a Thanksgiving turkey given a presidential pardon

    2. The leopard killed by his big-game hunting sons, Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump

    3. The endangered dusky gopher frog, which the supreme court ruled could not be protected on private land

    4. A magnolia tree, planted in the White House gardens by President Andrew Jackson and drastically hacked back on the orders of Melania Trump

11. “David can never let his guard down. He keeps a particular eye on young males, the most likely contenders for his crown. His toes twitch whenever they edge too close.” Who is David in this TV review?

    1. Sir David Attenborough

    2. David the chimp in Sir David Attenborough’s Dynasties

    3. David Dimbleby

    4. David the two-toed sloth in Chris Packham’s Secrets of Our Living Planet

12. 

    What did scientists discover T rex couldn’t do?

    1. Rip you limb from limb

    2. Chase after you at 10mph

    3. Taunt you by sticking out its tongue

    4. Crush your bones

Solutions

1:A, 2:C, 3:D, 4:A, 5:D, 6:D - After three-year-long Operation Takahe, police revealed that CCTV evidence showed foxes removing the heads of dead cats, as experts had long maintained was happening, despite local activists insisting a cat-killing psychopath was on the loose., 7:D - Wolves, pine martens and the chequered skipper have all bounced back, but there were just six pairs of the breeding curlew in southern England as the once-common wading bird plummets towards extinction., 8:C, 9:C, 10:A - Peas will now live out the rest of his days at the “Gobbler’s Rest” sanctuary., 11:B - Lucy Mangan is definitely making no analogies in her review of the nature documentary series Dynasties, 12:C - Scientists discovered that many dinosaurs were tongue-tied and could not waggle their tongues around.

Scores

1. 11 and above.

   Congratulations! You know a lot about nature. We've put your name forward to be the new head of UN environment

2. 12 and above.

   Congratulations! You know a lot about nature. We've put your name forward to be the new head of UN environment

3. 10 and above.

   A decent result. You know your anteaters from your antelopes – and have avoided getting stuffed this year

4. 9 and above.

   A decent result. You know your anteaters from your antelopes – and have avoided getting stuffed this year

5. 8 and above.

   A decent result. You know your anteaters from your antelopes – and have avoided getting stuffed this year

6. 7 and above.

   A decent result. You know your anteaters from your antelopes – and have avoided getting stuffed this year

7. 6 and above.

   A decent result. You know your anteaters from your antelopes – and have avoided getting stuffed this year

8. 5 and above.

   Like the breeding curlew, 2018 was not a great year for you. Pay more attention next year, or find yourself on the red list

9. 4 and above.

   Like the breeding curlew, 2018 was not a great year for you. Pay more attention next year, or find yourself on the red list

10. 3 and above.

    Like the breeding curlew, 2018 was not a great year for you. Pay more attention next year, or find yourself on the red list

11. 2 and above.

    Like the breeding curlew, 2018 was not a great year for you. Pay more attention next year, or find yourself on the red list

12. 0 and above.

    Like the breeding curlew, 2018 was not a great year for you. Pay more attention next year, or find yourself on the red list

13. 1 and above.

    Like the breeding curlew, 2018 was not a great year for you. Pay more attention next year, or find yourself on the red list