Marsupials! Australia is famous for these incredible animals, and we believe you are fully koala-fied to have this quiz in the bag, er, pouch.
#1. About how many marsupial species live in Australia?
There are about 330 marsupial species in the world today and over half (or about 175 species) live in Australia.
#2. Where else in the world can you find marsupials?
While most marsupials live in Australia and nearby New Guinea, about 30% of species can be found in the Americas, including one species, the Virginia opossum, in North America.
#3. True or false? A large, carnivorous koala-relative once roamed Australia.
True. Thylacoleo was a koala-relative that evolved to become a large and terrifying meat-eating predator. It weighed over 100 kilograms and could climb trees.
#4. Which of the following marsupial facts is actually an urban myth?
Koalas have successfully evolved to eat the toxins in eucalyptus leaves and they do not get sick or “drugged” from eating them. It takes a lot of energy to break down the leaves though, so koalas sleep to save energy.
#5. At over 2,700 kilograms, Diprotodon was the largest marsupial to ever live. Which of the following Aussie animals is most closely related to Diprotodon?
Diprotodon was an enormous wombat-relative that stood 1.8 metres tall. It went extinct about 40,000 years ago and likely coexisted with Aboriginal people.
Results
Congratulations! You are a real science whiz!
Oh dear! Better brush up before the next quiz!
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