Q 01/05

What is the scientific name for the polar bear?

A) Ursus americanus

B) Ursus arctos

C) Ursus maritimus

D) Ursus malayanus

Answer · why

C) Ursus maritimus

The polar bear is Ursus maritimus; Constantine John Phipps described it as a distinct species under that name in 1774 after his voyage toward the Nort...

Q 02/05

Which of these regions, despite its ice and cold, is NOT a natural home for wild polar bears?

A) Greenland

B) Russia

C) Canada

D) Antarctica

Answer · why

D) Antarctica

Antarctica has penguins but no bears; wild polar bears live only around the Arctic Ocean and its neighbouring seas, entirely in the Northern Hemispher...

Q 03/05

What color is a polar bear's skin underneath its fur?

A) Pink

B) White

C) Gray

D) Black

Answer · why

D) Black

A polar bear's skin is black, which helps it absorb the sun's warmth beneath its pale coat; newborn cubs, by contrast, have pink skin.

Q 04/05

Polar bears feed primarily on which part of the seals they catch?

A) Blubber

B) Liver

C) Muscle

D) Bones

Answer · why

A) Blubber

Polar bears eat the blubber first and often abandon the rest of the carcass; a seal's fat layer packs far more calories than its muscle or organs.

Q 05/05

What is an adult female polar bear called?

A) Sow

B) Cow

C) Doe

D) Mare

Answer · why

A) Sow

An adult female polar bear is a sow, as in every bear species; an adult male is a boar and the young are cubs.