Q 01/05

How does a mother alligator move her newly hatched young from the nest to the water?

A) On her back

B) In her mouth

C) Clinging to her tail

D) Nudged along by her snout

Answer · why

B) In her mouth

In her mouth. The same jaws that can crack a turtle's shell ferry the hatchlings to the water a mouthful at a time without harming one.

Q 02/05

The word 'alligator' is an English mangling of a Spanish phrase meaning what?

A) The dragon

B) The lizard

C) The swamp beast

D) The biter

Answer · why

B) The lizard

The lizard. Spanish explorers in Florida called the animal el lagarto, and English speakers ran the article and the noun together into a single word.

Q 03/05

The critically endangered Chinese alligator survives in the wild along the lower reaches of which river?

A) Amur

B) Mekong

C) Yangtze

D) Pearl River

Answer · why

C) Yangtze

Yangtze. It is even called the Yangtze alligator, and the thousands bred in captivity now far outnumber the few hundred at most left in the wild.

Q 04/05

Why can alligators spend only short spells in salt water?

A) Their skin dries and cracks

B) They lack salt glands

C) Their eggs need fresh water

D) Salt clouds their eyes

Answer · why

B) They lack salt glands

They lack salt glands. Crocodiles have working ones, which is one reason the two share South Florida as they do: crocodiles on the salty coast, alliga...

Q 05/05

What determines whether an alligator egg hatches as a male or a female?

A) The mother's age

B) The size of the egg

C) The month it is laid

D) The nest temperature

Answer · why

D) The nest temperature

The nest temperature. Cooler nests, at about 30°C or below, hatch females, and nests just a few degrees warmer turn out mostly males.