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.

Which of the following assertions about Pilot whales are true?

There are two species, one called short-finned and the other long-finned

Two different species are known, both belonging to the genus Globicephala

Two different species are known, whose distributions rarely overlap

Two different species are known, whose distributions broadly overlap

2.

In presence of a stranded cetacean, the following actions should be taken:

Gently try to drag the whale or dolphin back to the water

Immediately call the local authorities and experts

Keep the skin of the animal wet

Carefully try to keep the blowhole (or blowholes) free of sand or other materials

3.

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

Interspecific breeding

By coincidence

Convergent evolution

Divergent involution

4.

The number of blowholes in Mysticeti is:

Two

One or two, depending on the species

One

Always two, except for the Bowhead whale which has only one

5.

Which of the following baleen whales are unmistakable because of their typical V-shaped blow?

Gray whale

Right whale

Minke whale

Humpback whale

6.

The Gray whale was nicknamed Devilfish by whalers because:

Gray whales are naturally extremely aggressive

A Gray whale mother can become particularly aggressive if someone is harming her baby

They thought the evil would eventually get them for their practices

They regularly mistook Gray whales for Marlins

7.

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

8.

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

9.

Which whale species is unique in having three ridges on the top of its head rather than only one?

Blue whale

Fin whale

Humpback whale

Bryde's whale

10.

Which species among the following has disappeared from the North Atlantic due to whaling?

Gray whale

Narwhal

Common dolphin

Vaquita