Yale Peabody Museum
Mystery Hunt Winter/Spring 2017
Level: Challenging
FIRST FLOOR
1) What is the name of the large flightless bird that lives in tropical forests of New Guinea and is featured in the Dinosaurs Take Flight exhibit? ______
2) One of the Archaeopteryx specimens is known as the “most important fossil ever found”. Which one is it? ______
3) The three dimensional artist’s conception of a nesting Archaeopteryx shows the bird using a nest built of sticks similar to which modern bird? ______
4) This Yale Peabody Museum paleontologist of the 1960’s resurrected the idea that dinosaurs and birds may be related. What is his name? ______
5) Which other tidal animal fossils were discovered in the limestone of the Solnhafen Archipelago where Archaeopteryx was discovered?
a) ______b) ______c) ______d) ______
6) The skull that the Yale Peabody Museum originally had on the Brontosaurus was incorrect and was replaced with the correct skull in what year? ______
7) The dinosaur Othnielia rex is named for which important Yale Peabody Museum historical figure? ______
8) Connecticut fish fossils of the Triassic Period are similar to which modern fish? ______
9) Did mosasaurs walk, swim, or fly? ______
10) The Otisville Mastodon is a relative of which kind of large animal that is alive today? ______
11) What is the scientific name for the sabertooth cat? ______
12) Baird’s Horse of the Oligocene Period had how many toes on each foot? ______
13) The most complete specimen of the early hominid Australopithecus afarensis was named for which famous Beatles song? ______
14) The name Homo habilis refers to what artifacts found in connection with these early human fossils? ______
SECOND FLOOR
15) The phalanx or toe bone of what well known dinosaur is featured in a display on the stairwell landing about the Torosaurus? ______
16) Meteors can be divided into two groups depending on their composition. What are these two groups? ______
THIRD FLOOR
17) Meteorites are often named for where they fell on Earth. What is the name of the meteorite that fell in Connecticut on December 14, 1807? ______
18) What color is Rhodochrosite? ______
19) Which sedimentary rock on exhibit in the Hall of Mineral, Earth and Space is named for the city where the Peabody Museum is located? ______
20) What color does willemite appear to glow under ultraviolet light? ______
21) What is the primary food of polar bears? ______
22) In the Tropical Savannah diorama, what is the name of the snail eating bird? ______
23) Which snake is featured in the Kaibab Plateau Diorama? ______
24) Which duck is appropriately named for its extremely broad bill? ______
25) Which member of the falcon family is the most colorful? ______
26) Name four different turtles represented in the Connecticut Coastal Region Diorama.
a) ______
b) ______
c) ______
d) ______
27) Which two owls can be seen in the Connecticut Forest Margin diorama?
a) ______& b) ______
28) What is another name for the spearthrower used by Connecticut Native Americans during the Paleo-Indian period? ______
29) Stone storage vessels were replaced by what new technology in the Early Woodland Period in Connecticut? ______
30) What is the name of a popular board game played from the earliest days of ancient Egypt until Roman times? ______
Answers to Scavenger Hunt Spring/Summer 2017
1) Northern Cassowary
2) Berlin specimen
3) Magpie
4). John Ostrom
5) Horseshoe crab, Brittle star, Shrimp, Lobster
6) 1981
7) O.C. Marsh
8) Gar-pike
9) Swim
10) Elephant
11) Smilodon californicus
12) Three
13) Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
14) Stone tools
15) Triceratops
16) Stone & iron
17) Weston Meteorite
18) Red or Pink
19) New Haven Arkose
20) Green
21) Seals
22) Limpkin
23) Gopher Snake
24) Shoveler
25) Sparrow Hawk (aka American Kestrel)
26) Any four of the following: Box turtle, Spotted turtle, Snapping turtle, Painted turtle, Diamondback terrapin
27) Eastern Screech Owl & Saw-Whet Owl
28) Atlatl
29) Pottery
30) Senet