Q 01/05

Arctic wolves usually raise pups in caves or rock outcrops because what makes digging a den so difficult?

A) Glacier ice

B) Loose scree

C) Permafrost

D) Solid granite

Answer · why

C) Permafrost

Permafrost is ground that stays frozen all year, so the wolves shelter in rocky outcrops, caves or shallow hollows instead of digging.

Q 02/05

Sleeping outdoors at −40 degrees, an Arctic wolf tucks its muzzle between its hind legs and covers its face with what?

A) Its front legs

B) Its tail

C) Loose snow

D) Its thick ruff

Answer · why

B) Its tail

Its tail works as a built-in scarf, letting northern wolves rest comfortably on open ground. Handily, −40 is the one temperature that reads the same i...

Q 03/05

Which word for a pack's top wolf did Arctic wolf biologist L. David Mech help popularise in 1970, then call outdated?

A) Apex

B) Patriarch

C) Chief

D) Alpha

Answer · why

D) Alpha

Alpha spread through Mech's 1970 book The Wolf, which stayed in print until 2022 even though he had long since stopped using the label himself.

Q 04/05

Which shaggy, horned grazer, several times heavier than a wolf, is the main large prey of Arctic wolf packs?

A) Moose

B) Muskox

C) Wood bison

D) Dall sheep

Answer · why

B) Muskox

Muskox herds are the packs' mainstay, and the hunters matter just as much to the hunted: wolves may account for up to half of all deaths in the specie...

Q 05/05

To lose less body heat, Arctic wolves have smaller, rounder versions of which feature than other grey wolves?

A) Ears

B) Eyes

C) Nostrils

D) Claws

Answer · why

A) Ears

Ears that are small and rounded lose less heat, and the same trick shows up in the wolves' shorter muzzles and legs.