Q 01/05

In which Russell Crowe film does the ship's doctor collect wildlife on the Galápagos?

A) A Beautiful Mind

B) Master and Commander

C) Cinderella Man

D) American Gangster

Answer · why

B) Master and Commander

Master and Commander: a camouflaged stick insect the doctor finds there inspires Captain Aubrey to disguise his warship as a harmless whaler.

Q 02/05

Which explorer backed claims that pre-Columbian South Americans sailed to the Galápagos?

A) Roald Amundsen

B) Thor Heyerdahl

C) Jacques Cousteau

D) Ernest Shackleton

Answer · why

B) Thor Heyerdahl

Thor Heyerdahl dug up pottery there, but later dating found no sign that anyone reached the islands before the Spanish did.

Q 03/05

Pinzón Island's tortoises hatched in the wild for the first time in over a century after rangers wiped out what?

A) Feral goats

B) Black rats

C) Wild pigs

D) Feral cats

Answer · why

B) Black rats

Black rats: brought by ships, they ate the eggs and hatchlings for generations, until poison bait dropped from helicopters cleared the island.

Q 04/05

Who accidentally discovered the Galápagos Islands in 1535?

A) Francisco Pizarro

B) Hernando de Soto

C) Ferdinand Magellan

D) Bishop Tomás de Berlanga

Answer · why

D) Bishop Tomás de Berlanga

Bishop Tomás de Berlanga was sailing to Peru to settle a quarrel between Pizarro and Almagro when a calm and currents carried his ship off course.

Q 05/05

Charles Darwin visited the islands aboard which ship?

A) HMS Beagle

B) HMS Endeavour

C) HMS Bounty

D) HMS Challenger

Answer · why

A) HMS Beagle

HMS Beagle was charting coasts for the Royal Navy, so while officers surveyed the islands for five weeks, Darwin collected rocks, plants and animals.