Other
Africa and South America are drifting apart at 5 centimeters a year which is around the same speed a fingernail grows.
What was found on December 23, 1938?
Bonus: (200 points)
When did its ancient relatives die out?
On December 23, 1938, fisherman hauling nets of the coast of South Africa hauled the ugliest creature they had ever seen. When they got ashore scientists realized that it was a coelacanth. Scientist described it as the living fossil find of the century. The scientist said that it hadn't changed in 400 million years!
How many average sized plant cells can fit on the head of a pin?
If you lined 40 average sized cells, they could only stretch across the head of a pin!
In what type of pits can you fin perfectly preserved fossils of animals?
(Bonus: 200)
Where can you find these pits?
You can find some Tar pits in Rancho La Brea near Los Angeles. Gooey tar bubbles from below in the ground. Many fossils have been found there.
How many new species of bacteria did researchers in Norway discover in a single teaspoon of soil?
In Norway, some researchers dug up a single teaspoon of soil and discovered a staggering 4,000 species of undiscovered bacteria.
Which animal was discovered in 1995?
In 1995, a Symbion Pandora was found attached to a Norwegian lobster. It was just 1 millimeter long and it was discovered to be part of the major group, Cycliophoran.
How do fossils form?
Fossils form when ancient animals die. When they die, they are often covered by layers of mud. Their soft bits quickly rot away which leaves their hard bits that turn to stone after they are buried. Then, they become fossils
What type of human cell doesn't have the average number of chromosomes?
The Egg and Sperm cells only have 23 chromosomes each. But, when forming a baby, they will join together.
What is the animal Opabinia and what did it look like?
(Bonus:100)
When did it die out?
The animal Opabinia looked like a swimming vacuum cleaner, with 5 eyes and a nozzle with claws at one end. It swam around the sea floor using its flexible nozzle to grab prey. It died out around 500 million years ago.
Why can some fish breathe on land?
(Bonus: 100)
Where do these special fish live?
If you dig down into the dried mud in African lake beds during the dry season, you can find lunged fish. They evolved extra loops in their guts that expanded into lungs for breathing air. Scientist think they first evolved these for living in murky, muddy waters where there wasn't much oxygen. Today, they can use them for breathing air when their waiting for the rain to come fill their lake up again.
Who proved that our ancient ancestors walked upright?
(Bonus: 100)
How did the person prove that they walked upright?
In 1976, in a Laetoli in Tanzania, Mary Leakey discovered 3 trails of 3.6-million-year-old hominid footprints. This was rock-solid evidence that even long ago, our ancestors walked on 2 legs.
Which animal fossil was bought in 1997?
Bonus: (100)
How much did it cost?
In 1997, an American museum paid 7.6 million dollars to buy the most perfect Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil ever found!
How many chromosomes are in a nucleus of a human?
Bonus: Which animal has the most chromosomes?
(200 extra points)
How many does it have?
(200 extra points)
A human has 46 chromosomes or 23 pairs.
The adder's tongue fern has 1,260!
When was the mass extinction of dinosaurs?
Bonus:
When was another did another mass extinction happen?
(200 points)
What percent of Earths species went extinct?
(200 points)
Scientist believe that 65 million years ago, an asteroid collided with the Earth that cause many forms of life (Including the dinosaurs) to become extinct.
Another mass extinction happened 245 million years ago when 96% of all life on earth was wiped out.
What did scientist discover in 1995?
(Bonus: 100)
How many new species did they discover?
In 1995, scientist discovered a new cave in Romania. When their torches pierced the darkness, they found 30 new species of blind spiders, woodlice and assorted animals that hadn't seen sunlight for 5 million years!
What did Terry Erwin do?
(Bonus: 100)
How many new species did he discover in a single experiment?
Ervin was an American beetle expert. He covered a tree called Luehia Seemannii in the Panamanian rain forest with smoke and collected the fallen beetles. From that one experiment, he discovered 160 new beetle species.
What happened in 1996?
In 1996, Australian thieves stole the world's only set of Stegosaurus footprints by cutting them out of solid rock!
How long does it take for one human cell to completely copy its DNA?
It takes a cell around 8 hours to copy its DNA.
Until 1950, what did scientist believe?
(Bonus: 100)
What was its name?
Until 1950, scientist believed that there was another type of hominid roaming around earth 200,000 years ago. His name was Piltdown Man. He was discovered in 1908 but chemical tests proved that he was a complete hoax! It turns out that his skull has made by gluing together other pieces of bone.
How did bacteria form?
(Bonus: 100)
When did the first bacteria form?
Around 3,000 million years ago, conditions on the planet changed. So, DNA molecules had to keep evolving to survive in hostile habitats. Some devious DNA slipped into survival suits and became the first bacterium. These bugs breed until they covered every surface in slime. They fed on sulphur which made the air smelly.
What was discovered in 1924?
(Bonus: 300)
What did scientist think happened?
(Bonus: 100)
What species did the object belong to?
In 1924, a group of paleontologists working in Taung, South Africa unearthed a pile of 3 million year old bones. Most of the bones belonged to rat like creatures but some bones came from a child. This child belonged to the species Australopithecus africanus. Scientist think that his remains are in a fossil nest of a huge eagle, alongside other bits of animals.
What formed 3,500 million years ago?
3,500 million years ago, the atmosphere smelled like a gigantic fart it was full of sulphurous gases. A chemical cocktail in the ocean reacted to build an amazing molecule called deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA.