Q 01/05

From the 1930s, doctors injected African clawed frogs with a woman's urine to test for what?

A) Diabetes

B) Pregnancy

C) Tuberculosis

D) Anaemia

Answer · why

B) Pregnancy

Pregnancy hormones in the urine made the frog produce eggs within 8 to 12 hours. Worked out in Cape Town, the test stayed in use around the world into...

Q 02/05

Which body parts does a frog retract into its skull to help push food down its throat?

A) Nostrils

B) Shoulders

C) Cheekbones

D) Eyeballs

Answer · why

D) Eyeballs

A frog's eyeballs drop through holes in the skull and press down on the food. Frogs swallow prey whole, so the extra push from above helps.

Q 03/05

Which puppeteer made the first Kermit puppet from a discarded coat and two halves of a ping-pong ball?

A) Jim Henson

B) Frank Oz

C) Fred Rogers

D) Walt Disney

Answer · why

A) Jim Henson

Jim Henson cut the 1955 prototype from a turquoise spring coat that had belonged to his mother. That first Kermit was a vague lizard-like creature and...

Q 04/05

Which salamander from the Valley of Mexico keeps its external gills for life and can regrow lost limbs?

A) Mudpuppy

B) Marbled newt

C) Axolotl

D) Alpine newt

Answer · why

C) Axolotl

The axolotl never grows out of its larval form, a trait called neoteny. It can rebuild limbs, gills and even parts of its brain without leaving a scar...

Q 05/05

A frog sheds its outer skin every few weeks; what does it usually do with the old skin?

A) Buries it

B) Eats it

C) Kicks it away

D) Leaves it

Answer · why

B) Eats it

The frog eats it. The loose skin is worked forwards towards the head and quickly swallowed, and other amphibians often do the same.