The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinctions Test | Mid-Book Test - Easy

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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When does Quammen say his field became a field of inquiry?
(a) With Alfred Wallace.
(b) With Darwin.
(c) With MacArthur and Wilson.
(d) With Quammen.

2. What does Michael Soule study?
(a) Lizards in the Gulf of California.
(b) Dodos.
(c) Tasmanian tigers.
(d) Birds in Guam.

3. Where did the dodo live?
(a) Sri Lanka.
(b) Galapagos Islands.
(c) Madagascar.
(d) Mauritius.

4. What does Quammen say an island is?
(a) An isolate.
(b) A fundamentally unique environment.
(c) A sample.
(d) A replica of other ecosystems.

5. What were theories of species evolution based on in Wallace's time?
(a) Guesses.
(b) Superstition.
(c) Religion.
(d) Science.

6. What is the difference between an isolate and a sample?
(a) Samples are only statistically related to larger environments.
(b) A sample is only representative of itself.
(c) An isolate does not have a relation with a larger area.
(d) Trends in an isolate can be applied to larger areas.

7. What function does the first chapter serve?
(a) Prophecy.
(b) Introduction.
(c) Prediction.
(d) Explanation.

8. When did the dodo go extinct?
(a) 17th century.
(b) 20th century.
(c) 19th century.
(d) 18th century.

9. What does Quammen say about the overall pattern on this hypothetical rug?
(a) It is ruined.
(b) It only exists in nostalgia.
(c) It can still be reassembled.
(d) It is theoretical, now.

10. What does Quammen use as an example of an island?
(a) The komodo dragon's territory.
(b) Mountaintop ecosystems.
(c) Yellowstone national park.
(d) Indonesia.

11. What is a trophic cascade?
(a) The cycle of expansion and contraction in animal populations.
(b) The interrelation between species.
(c) The result of change in one species' hunting habits.
(d) The consequences of habitat depletion.

12. What does Quammen say makes his field important?
(a) Because it accounts for events other fields cannot account for.
(b) Because island ecosystems are a good metaphor for ecosystems as a whole.
(c) Because it has predicted recent phenomena.
(d) Because it is holistic and global in scope.

13. What family does Quammen say hippopotamuses and deer belong to?
(a) Monorhina.
(b) Anamnia.
(c) Marsupials.
(d) Ungulates.

14. What is the tone of Quammen's writing in the opening chapter?
(a) Familiar.
(b) Agitated.
(c) Morose.
(d) Bellicose.

15. Where does Quammen say isolates can occur?
(a) Only in areas separated by steep mountains or deserts.
(b) Only on islands.
(c) On islands and on land.
(d) In the bottoms of lakes.

Short Answer Questions

1. How did Wallace put Darwin in a tough spot, according to Quammen?

2. What does Quammen interject into his historical narrative about ecosystem studies?

3. How does Quammen say lizards probably arrived at Krakatau?

4. What advice did Darwin receive from his friends, with regard to Wallace's work?

5. When does a species' dispersal ability become important, according to Quammen?

(see the answer keys)

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