The Seychelles; family Sooglossidae
Zoochat Wildlife Quiz
- Thread starter German Zoo World
- Start date
New Zealand: Leiopelmatidae
Well done Tim, that was the family I was thinking of. Your go.
What species was acquired by London Zoo in 1932 and then Belle Vue (Manchester) in 1964?
Marine iguana
Indeed London Zoo acquired four marine iguanas (together with a Galapagos flightless cormorant) on 20th December 1932; the longest lived of the marine iguanas died on 27th May 1934.
Belle Vue acquired three marine iguanas on 25th June 1964 and a fourth specimen on 29th July 1964. Sadly all had died by 6th September 1964.
I am not aware of any other marine iguanas ever being kept in the UK.
Your turn....
In 1923, an aristocrat presented London Zoo with a rare creature he had come across on his travels. The following year, the ZSL's Curator of Reptiles named it a new species - an opinion which never gained much traction. More recently, a group of researchers suggested that this taxon should be regarded as a full species once more - but what is it?
(And for 'bonus points': can you also name the aristocrat and curator in question?)
(And for 'bonus points': can you also name the aristocrat and curator in question?)
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The species is:
South China giant salamander Andrias sligoi
(although Boulenger named it Megalobatrachus sligoi).
The Curator of Reptiles was E. G. Boulenger (although by the time his description was published, he was Director of the London Zoo Aquarium and Joan Procter had replaced him as Curator of Reptiles).
The aristocrat, who presented the creature to the zoo, was the Marquess of Sligo.
Museums are normally associated with displaying dead specimens but, for many years, a UK museum exhibited a living individual of a species rarely kept in the UK.
Name the species and the museum.
Pool frog, Horniman Museum?
Sorry that's not the answer I was thinking of.
Is it the tramlap flying frog kept in the vivarium in the University of Manchester Museum?
A little clarification to avoid any confusion:
This question is not about species currently exhibited in museums.
The species in question was exhibited in the museum decades ago and the animal lived in the museum for many years.
Galapagos Tortoise, Tring?
No that's not correct. (Lord Rothschild did keep giant tortoises at Tring but they were not displayed in the museum.)
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I suspect a specific Urodele, but am struggling to find the Museum.
Clue: it is not a newt or salamander.
Time to give up looking for a Museum that had an Olm then!
We don’t seem to be making much progress here; my next idea is Thorny Devil, but would any museum manage to supply enough ants for years? Or was there a Tuatara imported in the distant past, although I would have suspected it might have been kept in unsuitably warm conditions.