home
Menu
Create
Random
0
0
0
thumbnail

Megafauna of North America

Identify all native animals in North America that can be larger than 100 Ib (45 kg).
North America in this case includes all arctic islands owned by the US or Canada, and all of Central America
As a general rule. I did not include fully aquatic animals, such as fish, manatees, or whales, and sea turtles. I did make the decision to add Pinnipeds.
Invasive or nativized species are not included.
While not geographically strictly correct, Hawaii is considered part of North America for part of this quiz.
Quiz by Kearsarge
Rate:
Last updated: September 22, 2021
You have not attempted this quiz yet.
More quiz info >>
First submittedSeptember 18, 2021
Times taken483
Average score55.0%
Rating3.60
Report this quizReport
Quiz and answer stats >>
Friends stats >>
4:00
Enter answer here
0
 / 40 guessed
The quiz is paused. You have remaining.
Scoring
You scored / = %
This beats or equals % of test takers also scored 100%
The average score is
Your high score is
Your fastest time is
Keep scrolling down for answers and more stats ...
Kearsarge
+3
Level 68
Sep 18, 2021
By luck, neither the Eastern Wolf, or the Red Wolf exceed 100 pounds, so I did not have to make the decision whether to include them as seperate species or not. There is a lot of debate over those two populations, if they are just Coyote/Gray Wolf hybrids, or if they are species of their own, so avoiding that sort of issue was nice. Also nice was how only one species of Brocket deer, a group of deer native to central or south america, was included. Their phylogeny seems fairly complicated from a wikipedia search, with a lot of debate over species and subspecies.

On another topic, the alligator snapping turtle is much larger than I would have expected. The record individual was over 400 pounds. I have a lot of difficulty imagining one so big. 40-50 pound common snapping turtles are big enough on their own.

Please tell me if I missed any species.

Kearsarge
+3
Level 68
Sep 22, 2021
Turns out that seals are big animals, and adding them meant adding every type of seal off the coasts of North America, as they all exceeded the 100 Ib cutoff in size. Pretty sure I got them all, but please tell me if I am missing any. I also added Sea Otters. They are only rarely above 100 Ib, but they can get that large, so I figured I might as well.
sumokitty
+1
Level 82
Sep 29, 2023
I had no idea there were so many types of seal. I got 6, but still missed 5!
AlmostAGenius
+2
Level 81
Sep 29, 2023
Just accept snapping turtle please?
Kearsarge
+1
Level 68
Oct 1, 2023
If you can find anything that calls alligator snapping turtles, snapping turtles, sure. I was unable to find anything on that, and I don't live in the alligator snapping turtles range, so I cannot confirm. As far as I can tell, "Snapping Turtle" usually refers to the common snapping turtle, which is far smaller than the alligator snapping turtle.
Dollyfroggy
+1
Level 60
Oct 1, 2023
I don't understand why Hawaii is included in this quiz. It doesn't make sense as Hawaii is, as you notes, not part of North America.
Kearsarge
+1
Level 68
Oct 1, 2023
Ended up deciding to put the Hawaiian Monk Seal here after putting the arguably "oceanian" Juan Fernandez sea lion in with South American megafauna given that the island was owned by, and closest to, a South American country. Figured I should include the hawaiian monk seal in with the North American megafauna as like the Juan Fernandez Islands, it was owned by a mainland country, and to keep things consistent. As it is, it is the only extant example of native polynesian megafauna outside of New Zealand, so it wouldn't fit well elsewhere. If there were more examples of an "oceanian" megafauna, I would probably have put it in its own quiz, or with the Australian/New Zealand Megafauna quiz.
Save Your Progress

Copyright H Brothers Inc, 2008–2024

Contact Us | Go To Top | View Mobile Site