2001 Olympiad

Reptiles and Amphibians
By: Roger Birkhead, Kristin Bakkegard, Chelsea Ward, Michelle Durflinger, and Scott Boback
12 Stations, 46 questions, 4 minutes per station

Station A: Musk Turtle
1.  What is the family of this animal?
2.  *What is special about the plastron of this animal compared to other water turtles?
3.  What are the small plates covering the top and bottom of this animal’s shell called?
4.  What characteristic of this animal gives it its common name?

Station B: Anole
5. Where does this animal spend most of its time in the wild?
6. What special thing can this animal do to help it blend into its environment?
7. How many species of this type animal are NATIVE to the United States?
8. What does this animal eat?

Station C: Cornsnake
9. What is the order for this animal?
10. *How is this animal able to swallow prey, which is larger than its head?
11. Is this animal poisonous?
12. How does this animal kill its prey?

Station D: Leopard Frog
13. What family is this animal in?
14. What is the common name for this animal?
15.  Why do you think it got that common name?
16. *Does the call of this animal sound like a pig, rubbing a balloon, or clicking marbles?

Station E: Greenfrog Tadpole
17. What is the order for this animal?
18. What is the family for this animal?
19.  What does it eat at this life stage?
20.  What is the term used to describe the change to an adult in this animal?

Station F: General Knowledge I
21. What is the largest North American freshwater turtle?
22. *What is a scientist who studies amphibians and reptiles called?
23. What is the name for the structure which helps most larval amphibians breathe?
24. Name a feature which distinguishes reptiles from amphibians.

Station G: Gopher Tortoise
25. How does this animal alter its habitat?
26. What special adaptations does it have for how it lives?
27. What direction would you have to travel from Auburn to find one? (N, S, E, or W)
28. *Why is this animal important to other animals in its ecosystem?

Station H: Slimy Salamander
29. What is the order for this animal?
30. What does this animal have to help protect it from predators?
31.  What is the family for this animal?
32.  Does this animal have an aquatic larval stage?

Station I: Copperhead
33. What is the Genus for this animal?
34. *How can this animal “see” its prey without using its eyes?
35. Is this animal poisonous?
36. What color is the tip of the tail of this snake when newborn?

Station J: Amphiuma
37. What is the family for this animal?
38.  What feature allowed you to distinguish it from similar families/species?
39. What is the minimum total number of toes this type animal can have on all it’s feet?
40. *What is the maximum total number of toes this type animal can have on all it’s feet?

Station K: Newt
41. What is the family of this animal?
42. What is the unique feature of this genus?
43. What are the young of this animal called when they move onto the land?
44. *What animal should be absent from the places this animal breeds?

Station L: General Knowledge II
45. *What is the state reptile of Alabama?
46. *What is the state amphibian of Alabama?


2000 Olympiad

Reptiles and Amphibians
By: Roger Birkhead, Scott Boback, Anne Estes, Michelle Durflinger
12 Stations, 46 questions, 4 minutes per station

Station A: Box Turtle
1.  What is the genus of this animal?
2. What unique shell feature does this animal possess that helps protect it from predators?
3.  Name three different foods this animal eats in the wild.
4. *If you find this animal trying to cross a road, which side should you put it on?

Station B: Slimy Salamander
5. What is the family for this animal?
6. *Since they have no lungs what organ do they use to breathe?
7. What do they eat?
8. Where does this animal hide in the woods?

Station C: Leopard Frog
9. What is the order for this animal?
10. The young of this animal are commonly called what?
11. What problem would fish cause if they were put into this animal’s breeding ponds?
12. *What is this animal’s ear called?

Station D: Anole
13. What family is this animal in?
14. Where are they found in the wild (Habitat)?
15. What purpose does their dulap/throat fan serve?
16. What do they eat?

Station E: Skink
17. Is this animal an amphibian or a reptile?
18. What characteristic determined your decision for #17?
19. *What is an adaptation these animals have for escaping from predators?
20. What family do they belong in?

Station F: Snapping Turtle
21. Name a body feature that separates this animal from others like it.
22. Where does this animal live (Habitat)?
23. What is the family for this animal?
24. Name a feature that allows this animal to blend into its environment.

Station G: Rattlesnake
25. What family is this animal in?
26. Name a feature that would tell you if this animal was poisonous.
27. *What benefit is this animal to man?
28. What is the best way to respond if you find this animal in the wild?

Station H: Kingsnake
29. Why is this snake called a Kingsnake?
30. *Does this snake lay eggs or have live birth?
31. Is this snake venomous?
32. Name the genus of this snake.

Station I: Gopher Tortoise
33. Were do these animals live (Habitat)?
34. *Why is this animal important to other animals in its ecosystem?
35. What does it eat?
36. What special adaptations does it have for how it lives?

Station J: Glass Lizard
37. Is this a snake or a lizard?
38. Name one way you can tell the difference.
39. Name another way you can tell the difference.
40. *Does this animal spend most of its time above ground or below?

Station K: Spadefoot Toad
41. What is the family of this animal?
42. What is the unique feature of this genus?
43. What is this unique feature used for?
44. *When frogs and toads breed the males grasp the females with their front legs.  What
       is this behavior called?

General:
45. *What is the state reptile of Alabama?
46. *What animal is being proposed as the state amphibian of Alabama?