IN PURSUIT OF OBSCURE FROG KNOWLEDGE

In August 2001 the VFG held an activities and fundraising night. The following questions prepared by Dave Black were used for the Trivia competition that ran through the evening.

On the night the game was not so simple as just answering questions, oh no - there was bidding for so-called "experts" to assist with each round, there was strategic playing of the booster cards to gain extra points, and there were possible ejections from the leading teams.

The night was tremendously successful, measured by both enjoyment of the participants and by the amount of money raised for the Group. There will definitely be something similar in the future.

Test your knowledge with these frog questions from the worlds of science and popular culture. The answers are found on a separate page.

The Questions

QUESTION 1:

In the classic arcade game, Frogger, you had to negotiate the frog through obstacles before it could find safety.

In which order were the obstacles ?

1. river then road
2. road then river
3. river then road then river
4. road then river then road

[2 points]

How many places on each screen could the frog finish safely ?

[3 points]

QUESTION 2:

There are seven (7) frogs and/or toads represented in the range of small toys found inside the chocolate Yowie treats. Name them.

[2 points each]

QUESTION 3:

Using the above diagram as a guide, match the appropriate number with the labels in the list below.

Tibial gland; Dorsolateral fold; Tympanum; Parotoid gland; Cloaca; Supratympanic ridge

[2 points each]

QUESTION 4:

Ex-professional wrestler, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper stars as Sam Hell, the hero of this 1987 b-grade movie. He's a prisoner of the women who now run the USA after a nuclear/biological war. Results of the war are that mutants have evolved, and the human race is in danger of extinction due to infertility. Hell is given the task of helping in the rescue of a group of fertile women from the harem of the mutant frog leader. Hell cannot escape since he has a bomb attached to his private parts which will detonate if he strays more than a few hundred yards from his guard.

Identify this movie.

[8 points]

What is the alternate title of the third movie in this forgettable series?

[2 points]

QUESTION 5:

On Frogstomp, their debut album, the trio creates raw, uplifting fuzz and feedback mantra that play off a chugging assault of guitars and the ragged vocals of singer Daniel Johns. The effect is breathtaking: The aftershock of gut-quaking songs like "Tomorrow" and "Pure Massacre" is not unlike a hit of an illegal stimulant or two.

Identify this band.

[5 points]

QUESTION 6:

There are a "murder of crows", a "gaggle of geese", and a "flock of sheep". But what are the collective nouns for frogs and toads? (HINT: Neither answer is "colony" or "population" or even "chorus").

[5 points each]

QUESTION 7:

Identify the following frogs.

[5 points each]

QUESTION 8:

Below there are three groups of frog names - two groups of common names and one group of latin names. The groups are related - one name taken from each group produces a set of different names for the same frog. However, there is one name in each group that is a rogue and has no matches in the other groups.

Record the four (4) three-way matches and the fifth set of unmatched names.

GROUP 1: Green & Golden Grass Frog; Pobblebonk; Southern Bell Frog; Southern Brown Tree Frog; Spotted Tree Frog

GROUP 2: Eastern Banjo Frog; Ewing's Tree Frog; Growling Grass Frog; Spencer's River Tree Frog; Spotted Marsh Frog

GROUP 3: Limnodynastes dumerili; Limnodynastes spenceri; Litoria ewingi; Litoria raniformis; Litoria spenceri

[2 points each complete match]
[10 points total]

QUESTION 9:

Identify the following calls of frogs.

Frog 1; Frog 2; Frog 3

[5 points each]

QUESTION 10:

This frog was so thirsty that he drank up all the rivers and billabongs in the land. And the other animals had to find a way to get the water back.

Name the frog who caused a flood.

[6 points]

QUESTION 11:

Name the four (4) major characters in the novel The Wind in the Willows.

[3 points each]

QUESTION 12:

Match the following spawn with the frogs that laid them.

SPAWN: floating foamy mass exposed to sunlight; small jelly clump attached to submerged vegetation; beneath moist litter on land; small clumps or single eggs in water

FROGS: Common Froglet; Pobblebonk; Victorian Smooth Toadlet; Ewing's Tree Frog

[2 points each]

QUESTION 13:

During the mid and late 1990s a colony of endangered Green and Golden Bell Frogs (Litoria aurea) caused concern and delays to a major development in which Sydney suburb ?

[4 points]

QUESTION 14:

Until his death, who was the voice of Kermit the Frog ?

[4 points]

QUESTION 15:

Name Victoria's Planning Minister who approved the plans for the Craigieburn Bypass, a project that may affect a Growling Grass Frog (Litoria raniformis) colony on the Merri Creek.

[4 points]

QUESTION 16:

Who is the author of TheWind in the Willows ?

[4 points]

QUESTION 17:

Freddo Frog was first sold in Australia at the beginning of a decade (that is, a year ending in 0). Which year was it ?

[4 points]

QUESTION 18:

In the movie Magnolia starring Jason Robards and Tom Cruise amongst others, which natural phenomenon becomes somewhat unnatural by the inclusion of countless frogs ?

[4 points]

QUESTION 19:

Which epiphytic plant found in South America can provide a complete home and place to raise tadpoles for frogs such as the poison arrow frogs ?

[4 points]

QUESTION 20:

A traditional folk song informs us that "a frog went courtin' on a summer's day, uh humm". Who did this frog propose marriage to ?

[4 points]

QUESTION 21:

Which famous writing team penned the original tale of The Frog Prince ?

[4 points]

QUESTION 22:

In the television series Bewitched, poor suffering Darren was turned into a frog (and many other things) by his mother-in-law. What is her name ?

[4 points]

Assessment

How did you fare ? Check the answers.