Q 01/05

In the picture book The Three Little Javelinas, which desert animal takes the Big Bad Wolf's role?

A) Coyote

B) Bobcat

C) Rattlesnake

D) Gila monster

Answer · why

A) Coyote

Coyote plays the villain in Susan Lowell's Southwestern retelling, and only the sister's house of adobe bricks holds firm against him.

Q 02/05

Which cactus do Arizona's javelinas shred with their canine teeth and eat, spines and all?

A) Barrel cactus

B) Prickly pear

C) Organ pipe

D) Cholla

Answer · why

B) Prickly pear

Prickly pear is a javelina favourite, and the animals sometimes stomp on the pads first to squash the spines before eating.

Q 03/05

The Chacoan peccary, known from fossils before it was found alive, is a taxon named for which biblical figure?

A) Jonah

B) Methuselah

C) Lazarus

D) Noah

Answer · why

C) Lazarus

Lazarus taxon is the term for a species that seems to vanish and then reappears. The Chacoan peccary was described as extinct in 1930 and turned up al...

Q 04/05

The strong musky odor of peccaries has earned them a nickname that pairs 'pig' with which other animal?

A) Polecat

B) Weasel

C) Civet

D) Skunk

Answer · why

D) Skunk

Skunk pig is the nickname: the musk comes from glands on the back and below each eye, and it is strong enough for people to detect.

Q 05/05

Which sense do javelinas rely on most to recognise herd mates and detect danger in the desert?

A) Smell

B) Hearing

C) Touch

D) Taste

Answer · why

A) Smell

Smell does the work: javelinas rub against each other's musk glands so the whole herd carries one shared odor, and a stranger is noticed at once.