Q 01/05

Potamotherium valetoni, the earliest known otter species, lived on which continent?

A) Asia

B) Europe

C) Africa

D) North America

Answer · why

B) Europe

The African clawless otter, by contrast, does not appear in the fossil record until the Pleistocene.

Q 02/05

Besides lacking a long muscular tail, the sea otter is unique among mustelids in lacking what?

A) Sensory whiskers on the muzzle

B) Functional anal scent glands

C) Claws on the forepaws

D) External ear flaps

Answer · why

B) Functional anal scent glands

It is also the only mustelid able to spend its whole life without leaving the water.

Q 03/05

Roughly what share of its body weight must a Eurasian otter eat every day to stay warm?

A) 15%

B) 25%

C) 35%

D) 50%

Answer · why

A) 15%

Sea otters need even more, 20 to 25 percent or higher. In water of 10 °C an otter must catch about 100 grams of fish an hour just to survive.

Q 04/05

The first otter genus, Mionictis, evolved in the Early Miocene from which animals?

A) Small seals that moved into rivers

B) Badgers that adapted to semi-aquatic life

C) Weasels that took to the coast

D) Tree-dwelling martens

Answer · why

B) Badgers that adapted to semi-aquatic life

Otters remain part of the family Mustelidae alongside badgers, weasels, martens and minks.

Q 05/05

Between 1958 and 1963 the 11 otter hunts of England and Wales killed how many otters between them?

A) 1,065

B) 2,400

C) 4,200

D) 10,600

Answer · why

A) 1,065

Hunters notched their poles after each kill and prized the animal's baculum, or penis bone, as a tie-pin.