Sci-Five | The Hindu Science Quiz: On Marsupials

This week’s Sci-five science quiz is on marsupials.

December 07, 2023 04:30 pm | Updated December 12, 2023 03:46 pm IST

A koala sits in a tree at a koala park in Sydney, Australia, Friday, May 5, 2023. Australian scientists have begun vaccinating wild koalas against chlamydia in a pioneering field trial in New South Wales. The aim is to test a method for protecting the beloved marsupials against a widespread disease that causes blindness, infertility and death.

A koala sits in a tree at a koala park in Sydney, Australia, Friday, May 5, 2023. Australian scientists have begun vaccinating wild koalas against chlamydia in a pioneering field trial in New South Wales. The aim is to test a method for protecting the beloved marsupials against a widespread disease that causes blindness, infertility and death. | Photo Credit: AP

Q: Which species is the only marsupial found in North America?

The Virginia opossum is the only species of marsupial that inhabits North America. Virginia opossums are solitary nocturnal marsupials and are the largest of all opossums.

Kangaroo

Virginia opossum

Bilby

Wombat

A: 2

Q: What is the smallest marsupial?

The smallest marsupial is the long-tailed planigale. It is a tiny, nocturnal creature that measures between 2 and 2.3 inches and weighs about 4.3 grams. Long-tailed planigales inhabit a variety of habitats in northern Australia, including clay soil woodlands, grasslands, and floodplains.

Red kangaroo

Koala

Tasmanian devil

Long-tailed planigale

A: 4

Q:  Into how many groups can Australian marsupials be divided based on diet?

Australian marsupials can be divided into roughly three groups: Dasyurids (meat-eating marsupials), Peramelemorphs (omnivorous marsupials) and Diprotodonts (herbivorous marsupials).

Two

Five

Three

Four

A: 3

Q: Which marsupial is described as a “horrific carnivorous wombat” and is now extinct?

Thylacoleo is an extinct genus of carnivorous marsupials that lived in Australia from the late Pliocene to the Late Pleistocene, often known as marsupial lions.

Marsupial lion

Tasmanian tiger

Bilby

Wombat

A: 1

Q: Which marsupial is the largest?

The red kangaroo is the largest marsupial. Male red kangaroos grow to be more than twice the weight of females. They are rusty red in colour and weigh between 55 and 200 pounds. They measure between 3.25 and 5.25 feet long.

Red kangaroo

Koala

Bilby

Wombat

A: 1

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