IZ #24.173 -[#ShelfAware] The Amazing Nature Quiz Book
#ShelfAware #Books
“Shelf Aware” is a weekly series from IZ, featuring questions on one book, movie or artefact from my collection.
There are natural quizzers and then there are quizzers who like nature. Akhila Phadnis and Berty Ashley are both.
What I like about quizzers like them is their range of professional and personal interests. Between them, Akhila and Berty cover a variety of areas such as languages, translation, music, biology, travel, food, medicine, and of course, the natural world.
They’ve authored multiple quiz books; for today’s set, I’ve featured their book on nature with some questions from the book (they were kind enough to let me do so). I don’t think this topic gets much airtime (or watertime or fertilisertime) in quizzes, so here are 7 of the creepiest, the crawliest, the greenest, and the fragrantest facts from the book. (I have slightly edited the questions for reasons of length)
Bacteria are single-celled organisms but don’t always lack the ability to coordinate and work together. The Myxococcus xanthus bacteria travel in a swarm that scientists refer to as a ___. The swarm crawls around and on finding a victim, releases antibiotics to paralyze it and then releases digestive enzymes to break it down. This name refers to one of the first animals to be domesticated by humans. What is the name for this swarm of bacteria, a term made famous by the movie The Hangover?
The hooded Pitohui, found in New Guinea, is a medium-sized songbird. It eats certain beetles, which gives it a unique characteristic, and till this was observed in the Pitohui, only some very colourful frogs were known to have the same feature. This was discovered when scientists, preparing the birds' skins for display at museums, lost sensation in their hands. What is it that the hooded Pitohui has in its skin and organs that sets it apart from other birds?
The Indian pipe plant, also known as the ghost plant, grows on fungi, which themselves grow on trees. It is one among a group of rare plants that lack a particular compound which we instantly associate with plants. Due to this unique feature, it is able to live in dense forests under thick trees. What does the Indian pipe plant lack?
According to a popular author, in the language used during the Victorian era, certain meanings were attached to two flowers after which two sisters are named in her seminal work. The elder sister is named after a flower that is susceptible to damage, is best grown in a basket and has to be sheltered from wind and excess light. It also harbours the meaning of ‘resentment and anger’. The younger sister signifies ‘beauty, elegance, sweetness’ and the flower associated with her means ‘remembered beyond the tomb’. What are these two flowers, what is the name of the younger sister and the series?
There are seven tiger subspecies and their scientific names mostly all refer to their geographical area of incidence, for example, amoyensis (Amoy), balinicus (Bali), sumatraensis (Sumatra), etc. Only one subspecies has a scientific name that honours an individual—the Indochinese tiger. To whom is the name dedicated?
In 2010, a new species of mushroom was found in Malaysia. It produces sponge-like rubbery orange fruit bodies. Scientists were fascinated by its spongy appearance so much so that they couldn't help themselves and named it after everyone's favorite resident of a place named after a hot fashion statement. They named it Spongiforma _________ii. What is the name of the species that kids should recognize?
The scientific name of this animal is Boselaphus tragocamelus. This translates into the very confusing ‘cow-horse goat-camel’. The common name comes from the fusion of the local words for a colour it can take on and the type of animal it is. What is the common name for this large Asian antelope?
#interludez
I asked Berty and Akhila to tell me how this book came to be. This is what they said:
“When Rupa Publications reached out to us about the quiz books they just wanted a series, and we decided that instead of a numerical series that covers all topics, we will do a thematic series that covers our favourite topics.
And the Nature book was the first one we did.
Both of us being fans of all flora and fauna made it easy (and quite fast, which set unrealistic deadlines for the rest 🤣).
Of the many trivia and funda that is shared in the book I think my (Berty’s) favourite is the entire chapter titled 'Brilliant Bacteria'. How many wildlife quiz books do you know who have a chapter dedicated to Bacteria? Love the trivia on that!
The book is easily one of the most popular in school libraries and it's the fastest selling on Flipkart.
It remains one of our faves, naturally 😁”
The book is available on platforms like Flipkart and Amazon. Some of their quiz books are also available on Kindle Unlimited (for those of you with a subscription).
Answers
Bacteria are single-celled organisms but don’t always lack the ability to coordinate and work together. The Myxococcus xanthus bacteria travel in a swarm that scientists refer to as a ___. The swarm crawls around and on finding a victim, releases antibiotics to paralyze it and then releases digestive enzymes to break it down. This name refers to one of the first animals to be domesticated by humans. What is the name for this swarm of bacteria, a term made famous by the movie The Hangover?
ANS: WOLF PACK
The hooded Pitohui, found in New Guinea, is a medium-sized songbird. It eats certain beetles, which gives it a unique characteristic, and till this was observed in the Pitohui, only some very colourful frogs were known to have the same feature. This was discovered when scientists, preparing the birds' skins for display at museums, lost sensation in their hands. What is it that the hooded Pitohui has in its skin and organs that sets it apart from other birds?
ANS: It has toxins, making it a POISONOUS bird
The Indian pipe plant, also known as the ghost plant, grows on fungi, which themselves grow on trees. It is one among a group of rare plants that lack a particular compound which we instantly associate with plants. Due to this unique feature, it is able to live in dense forests under thick trees. What does the Indian pipe plant lack?
ANS: CHLOROPHYLL
According to a popular author, in the language used during the Victorian era, certain meanings were attached to two flowers after which two sisters are named in her seminal work. The elder sister is named after a flower that is susceptible to damage, is best grown in a basket and has to be sheltered from wind and excess light. It also harbours the meaning of ‘resentment and anger’. The younger sister signifies ‘beauty, elegance, sweetness’ and the flower associated with her means ‘remembered beyond the tomb’. What are these two flowers, what is the name of the younger sister and the series?
ANS: From the HARRY POTTER series, these are LILY POTTER and her elder sister PETUNIA.
There are seven tiger subspecies and their scientific names mostly all refer to their geographical area of incidence, for example, amoyensis (Amoy), balinicus (Bali), sumatraensis (Sumatra), etc. Only one subspecies has a scientific name that honours an individual—the Indochinese tiger. To whom is the name dedicated?
ANS: JIM CORBETT (Panthera tigris corbetti)
In 2010, a new species of mushroom was found in Malaysia. It produces sponge-like rubbery orange fruit bodies. Scientists were fascinated by its spongy appearance so much so that they couldn't help themselves and named it after everyone's favorite resident of a place named after a hot fashion statement. They named it Spongiforma _________ii. What is the name of the species that kids should recognize?
ANS: The missing term in the blank is SQUAREPANTS- after Spongebob Squarepants
The scientific name of this animal is Boselaphus tragocamelus. This translates into the very confusing ‘cow-horse goat-camel’. The common name comes from the fusion of the local words for a colour it can take on and the type of animal it is. What is the common name for this large Asian antelope?
ANS: NILGAI
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Also check out the post I did on this quiz book on the Indian armed forces