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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Quammen say makes animals smaller on islands?
(a) Larger predators.
(b) Larger food supply.
(c) Smaller territories.
(d) Smaller food supply.

2. Who is Owen Griffiths?
(a) A bird researcher in Australia.
(b) A sailor from the 18th century.
(c) An insect researcher in Madagascar.
(d) A monkey researcher in Mauritius.

3. Who is Philip Darlington?
(a) A biologist.
(b) A sailor.
(c) A mathematician.
(d) A writer.

4. What question does Quammen say was debated for years after Darwin's theories were published?
(a) Whether he stole his work from Wallace.
(b) Whether he developed the theory of evolution on his own.
(c) Whether he acted honorably toward Wallace.
(d) Whether he owed Wallace for the material he borrowed.

5. What does Quammen interject into his historical narrative about ecosystem studies?
(a) Personal stories.
(b) Jokes.
(c) Apocalyptic visions.
(d) Sociological insights.

6. What is the genre of The Song of the Dodo?
(a) Prophecy.
(b) Fantasy.
(c) Fiction.
(d) Non-fiction.

7. Which scientist compared animals on islands with their counterparts on larger landmasses?
(a) Foster.
(b) Quammen.
(c) Darwin.
(d) Wallace.

8. What is Quammen really describing as he imagines the hacked up rug?
(a) Loss of environment to development.
(b) Loss of communication from one region to the next.
(c) The spread of pathogens.
(d) Fragmented ecosystems.

9. What did Philip Darlington propose?
(a) A set of formula that measure biodiversity.
(b) A mathematical ratio between island area and number of species.
(c) A set of exceptions to this rule.
(d) A correction that makes this rule broadly applicable.

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

11. How does Quammen say islands are sometimes formed?
(a) Earthquakes.
(b) Seismic upthrust.
(c) Volcanic activity.
(d) Rise in sea level.

12. Who does Quammen say typically collected insects?
(a) Wealthy Brits.
(b) Ambitious young Americans.
(c) The most devoted scientists.
(d) Hunters in the Amazon.

13. How did sailors describe the dodo?
(a) Stupid.
(b) Cagey.
(c) Canny.
(d) Swift.

14. What was the first species to arrive in Krakatau after the eruption?
(a) A spider.
(b) A snake.
(c) A bird.
(d) A crocodile.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What is a trophic cascade?

2. What was Tasmania's environmental history, according to Quammen?

3. How did humans hurt the dodo population indirectly?

4. How would you describe Quammen's narrative of the dodo's decline and extinction?

5. What were theories of species evolution based on in Wallace's time?

(see the answer keys)

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