Q 01/05

What is the scientific name for the hammerhead shark family?

A) Sphyrnidae

B) Carcharhinidae

C) Lamnidae

D) Sphyraenidae

Answer · why

A) Sphyrnidae

Sphyrnidae, from the Greek sphyrna, 'hammer', is the hammerhead family; the similar-looking Sphyraenidae are the barracudas.

Q 02/05

What is the technical name for the hammerhead's flattened, T-shaped head?

A) Rostrum

B) Cranial keel

C) Hydrofoil crest

D) Cephalofoil

Answer · why

D) Cephalofoil

The cephalofoil is the flattened, sideways-extended head; the eyes sit at its tips, and the mouth lies underneath near the middle.

Q 03/05

Which hammerhead is the only species not placed in the genus Sphyrna?

A) The bonnethead

B) The great hammerhead

C) The winghead

D) The smooth hammerhead

Answer · why

C) The winghead

The winghead shark (Eusphyra blochii) has its own genus, Eusphyra, and proportionally the largest hammer of all, while every other hammerhead sits in ...

Q 04/05

How wide can the hammer of the Eusphyra species be, as a fraction of its body length?

A) A tenth

B) Half

C) Equal

D) A quarter

Answer · why

B) Half

Half: the Eusphyra species' hammer can be as wide as half its total length; it grows to about 1.9 m, so the hammer can span nearly a metre.

Q 05/05

How many living hammerhead species are there?

A) Three

B) Six

C) Ten

D) Eight

Answer · why

C) Ten

They range from the 6 m great hammerhead to the 1.5 m bonnethead.