Fun with Quizzes

Are you a Cetacean expert?

Instructions
To pass the test you must answer correctly at least 7 questions out of 10. For each question, one or more answers can be correct and you need to select all the correct options to score a point. Test evaluation is immediate and does not require you to provide any personal data.

1.

Cetaceans can keep their body warm in the water by means of:

A thick layer of proteins under their skin, called blubber

A huge production of heat, due to constant swimming

A thick layer of fat under their skin, called blubber

A special countercurrent blood-vessel system, which limits the quantity of heat lost from their flukes and flippers

2.

Which of the following assertions about the Gray whale are true?

It performs the longest seasonal migrations between breeding and feeding grounds

It has a higher than average number of parasites

Its scientific name is Eschrichtius robustus

Females are larger than males

3.

The Narwhal has a typical tusk:

Only males and about 3% of females have one

Only females have one

Both males and females have one

No, the Narwhal does not have a typical tusk

4.

Some tourists tell you they have seen a mother and calf Gray whale pair in Patagonia:

It could be, but only during the Southern Hemisphere winter

It is impossible, because the Gray whale only inhabits the West coast of South America

It is impossible, because the Gray whale only inhabits the Northern Hemisphere

It is very possible, since the Gray whale is the most sighted cetacean in Patagonia

5.

The Mexican bays and lagoons of San Ignacio, Guerrero Negro and Magdalena are world-famous breeding grounds for:

Humpback whales

Blue whales

Sperm whales

Gray whales

6.

Which of the following cetaceans are only found in the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez)?

Gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus)

Boto (Inia geoffrensis)

Vaquita (Phocoena sinus)

Dall's porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli)

7.

Cetaceans, compared to humans, have:

A higher concentration of myoglobin in muscles

A bigger lung volume relative to total body volume

A higher amount of blood in their circulatory system, relative to total body weight

More efficient biochemical pathways, which enhance their tolerance towards lactic acid

8.

The reason(s) why cetaceans look more like fish than land mammals is (are):

Interspecific breeding

By coincidence

Convergent evolution

Divergent involution

9.

Talking about the ability of some cetaceans to make sounds and process the echoes bouncing back:

Echolocating cetaceans can recognise a woman being pregnant and may be therefore particularly careful and cautious in her presence

Echolocating cetaceans can see air in our lungs and therefore understand we cannot breathe underwater

Being echolocated by a cetacean is a guarantee the animal will not bump into you by mistake

Echolocation is the use of sound (and relative echoes) to locate objects, estimate their distance, shape and density

10.

The so-called baleen in toothless whales (Mysticeti) serve the purpose of:

Filtering the water and retain food

Filtering the oxygen contained in the water

Chewing preys

Increasing streamlining