--- title: The South American area: sloths, anteaters, piranhas and giant otters — how Mova does on the tests · Biology description: Lesson 108 of the biology course of Mova's primary school: 8 of 12 tests right, exam 1 of 4, every question with the options, the student's choice, the right answer and why it chose. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/108-the-south-american-area-sloths-anteaters-piranhas-giant-otters/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/) / 108 # The South American area: sloths, anteaters, piranhas and giant otters **Tests:** 8 of 12 right · **Exam:** 1 of 4 right · **Kind:** ★★★ · **Understood:** 10 of 16 · **Run:** 2026-10-18, commit `f3c23ea72` Lesson 108 of the biology course of Mova's primary school, as Mova's small model took its tests: it had read this lesson and the ones before it and learned from their exercises. Each test shows the options in the order the student saw them, its choice, the right answer, the score of every option and why it chose. The lesson itself, sentence by sentence with trees and pragmatics: [the lesson in the corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/108-the-south-american-area-sloths-anteaters-piranhas-giant-otters/). Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: [the lesson's questions in the corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/108-the-south-american-area-sloths-anteaters-piranhas-giant-otters/). ### Test 1 · ★★★ · wrong ✗ {#t1} A two-toed sloth has 2 claws on each front foot and 3 on each back foot. How many claws on 2 sloths? - **1.** 12 — **← Mova's choice** · no support - **2.** 16 — no support - **3.** 20 — **✓ the right answer** · no support - **4.** 8 — no support **Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/108-the-south-american-area-sloths-anteaters-piranhas-giant-otters/t1/) ### Test 2 · ★★★ · right ✓ {#t2} «piranhas can eat a whole cow in like 5 seconds, saw it in a film» What is true? - **1.** Piranhas are mostly shy, and attacks are rare small bites — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 7 - **2.** Yes, but only to cows, never people — no support - **3.** Yes, they do it every single day to cows crossing the Amazon — score 1 - **4.** No, piranhas only eat grass — score 3 **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 7, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 108, line 11: «Piranhas are mostly shy fish that eat fish, seeds, insects and dead animals; attacks on people are rare and usually small bites, and they swim in groups mostly…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same property (+3); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+3); the same doer «piranhas» (+1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/108-the-south-american-area-sloths-anteaters-piranhas-giant-otters/t2/) ### Test 3 · ★★★ · right ✓ {#t3} In Zootopia, Flash the sloth works at painfully slow speed. How right is that? - **1.** Sloths really are very slow, to save energy — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support - **2.** Wrong, sloths are fast but sleepy — no support - **3.** Wrong, real sloths are among the fastest animals — no support - **4.** Wrong, sloths cannot move at all — no support **Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/108-the-south-american-area-sloths-anteaters-piranhas-giant-otters/t3/) ### Test 4 · ★★★ · right ✓ {#t4} In Ice Age 3, Sid meets dinosaurs. What is wrong? - **1.** Ground sloths lived millions of years after the dinosaurs died out — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 8 - **2.** Dinosaurs still lived in the Ice Age — no support - **3.** Sloths are dinosaurs themselves — no support - **4.** Nothing, ground sloths lived with dinosaurs — score 2 **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 8, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 108, line 4: «Films show piranhas stripping a cow in seconds, Flash the sloth in Zootopia takes forever to laugh at a joke, and Sid of Ice Age meets dinosaurs; the truth is…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «live» (+4); the same doer «giant ground sloths» (+4). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/108-the-south-american-area-sloths-anteaters-piranhas-giant-otters/t4/) ### Test 5 · ★★★ · right ✓ {#t5} «that sloth's covered in mould, gross, it's sick» What is right? - **1.** It is algae that hides the sloth and is normal — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support - **2.** No, that is paint for the visitors — no support - **3.** Yes, it is very ill and needs to see a vet straight away — no support - **4.** Yes, keepers forgot to wash it — no support **Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/108-the-south-american-area-sloths-anteaters-piranhas-giant-otters/t5/) ### Test 6 · ★★★ · wrong ✗ {#t6} 3 rheas and 2 capybaras. How many legs? - **1.** 12 — **← Mova's choice** · no support - **2.** 10 — no support - **3.** 14 — **✓ the right answer** · no support - **4.** 20 — no support **Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/108-the-south-american-area-sloths-anteaters-piranhas-giant-otters/t6/) ### Test 7 · ★★★ · wrong ✗ {#t7} What would happen if a jaguar attacked a giant anteater? - **1.** The anteater would always be eaten at once — score 2 - **2.** The anteater could stand up and fight back with its claws — **✓ the right answer** · score 2 - **3.** The anteater would bite it hard with its long sharp front teeth — **← Mova's choice** · score 8 - **4.** The anteater would climb a tree to escape — score 1 **Why:** It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 3 with score 8, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 82, line 7: «The jaguar has the strongest bite of any big cat for its size and often kills by biting through the skull or a turtle's shell.», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «bite» (+5); the same thing acted on «big cat» (+3). The right option, 2, scored 2. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/108-the-south-american-area-sloths-anteaters-piranhas-giant-otters/t7/) ### Test 8 · ★★★ · wrong ✗ {#t8} In The Emperor's New Groove, a llama spits at people all the time. What is real? - **1.** Llamas spit at every person they meet — **← Mova's choice** · score 3 - **2.** Only alpacas spit, never llamas — no support - **3.** Llamas spit when annoyed, mostly at other llamas — **✓ the right answer** · score 3 - **4.** Llamas never spit at all — score 1 **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 3, tied with another option at 3 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 108, line 14: «Llamas and alpacas were bred from wild guanacos and vicunas in the Andes thousands of years ago, llamas to carry loads and alpacas for soft wool, and llamas sp…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «spit» (+2); the same doer «llamas» (+1). The right option, 3, scored 3. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/108-the-south-american-area-sloths-anteaters-piranhas-giant-otters/t8/) ### Test 9 · ★★★ · right ✓ {#t9} A rhea father sits on 52 eggs from 4 females, the same number from each. How many eggs did each female lay? - **1.** 13 — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support - **2.** 26 — no support - **3.** 48 — no support - **4.** 12 — no support **Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/108-the-south-american-area-sloths-anteaters-piranhas-giant-otters/t9/) ### Test 10 · ★★★ · right ✓ {#t10} «giant otters? never heard of 'em, must be loads» Why are they rare? - **1.** They moved to Africa — no support - **2.** Piranhas ate most of them — no support - **3.** They were hunted almost to extinction for their fur — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 5 - **4.** They have always been rare in every river of South America — score 3 **Why:** It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 3 with score 5, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 108, line 12: «Giant otters from the Amazon grow up to about 1.8 metres long, live in noisy families that hunt fish together and defend their river from caimans and jaguars,…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «hunt» (+3); the same doer «giant otters» (+1); the same circumstance (+1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/108-the-south-american-area-sloths-anteaters-piranhas-giant-otters/t10/) ### Test 11 · ★★★ · right ✓ {#t11} Why would a frog bother to feed its tadpoles its own eggs in a bromeliad pool? - **1.** It is getting rid of bad eggs — no support - **2.** Tadpoles only like eggs from other frogs — no support - **3.** The eggs keep the water warm — score 4 - **4.** The tiny pool has almost no other food — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 6 **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 6, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 108, line 15: «Some rainforest poison frogs carry their tadpoles on their backs up to little pools in bromeliad plants, safe from fish, and some mothers come back to feed the…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+3); the same thing acted on «other food» (+2); the same doer «tiny pool» (+1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/108-the-south-american-area-sloths-anteaters-piranhas-giant-otters/t11/) ### Test 12 · ★★★ · right ✓ {#t12} «capybaras are just giant guinea pigs with birds on top lol» What is true? - **1.** They are a kind of wild pig that lives in rivers and swamps — no support - **2.** They carry birds to keep warm — no support - **3.** They are huge, calm rodents that let birds sit on them — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 4 - **4.** They are a kind of small hippo — no support **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 42, line 5: «In memes and cartoons the capybara is everyone's chilled best friend, even the crocodile's; real capybaras are relaxed and tolerant, but they are still prey an…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «chilled best friend» (+5). Against it: the same doer «capybara» (-1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/108-the-south-american-area-sloths-anteaters-piranhas-giant-otters/t12/) ### Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e1} Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the slowness of the sloth? - **1.** It results from chronic illness caused by the algae in its fur — **← Mova's choice** · no support - **2.** It conserves the scant energy furnished by a diet of leaves — **✓ the right answer** · no support - **3.** It is a habit of idleness without biological purpose — no support - **4.** It is acquired only in captivity — no support **Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/108-the-south-american-area-sloths-anteaters-piranhas-giant-otters/e1/) ### Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e2} Identify the means by which the giant anteater, being without teeth, reduces its food. - **1.** The food is softened by soaking in water — no support - **2.** The food is chewed by ridges upon the tongue — **← Mova's choice** · score 3 - **3.** The food is ground in the stomach — **✓ the right answer** · no support - **4.** The food is dissolved in the mouth before swallowing — no support **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 96, line 14: «A cow's stomach has four parts, and it chews its food twice, bringing it back up as cud.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «chew» (+2); the same thing acted on «food» (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/108-the-south-american-area-sloths-anteaters-piranhas-giant-otters/e2/) ### Exam question 3 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e3} Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the piranha. - **1.** It feeds solely upon human beings — **← Mova's choice** · score 3 - **2.** It customarily consumes entire cattle in a matter of seconds when they cross rivers — no support - **3.** It is a herbivore consuming nothing but grass — no support - **4.** It is in the main a timid fish, and attacks upon man are rare and generally slight — **✓ the right answer** · no support **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 10, line 4: «Cartoon piranhas turn a cow into a skeleton in seconds; real red-bellied piranhas mostly eat insects, fish, worms and plants, feed in groups mainly for safety,…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «feed» (+2); the same doer «real bellied piranhas» (+1). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/108-the-south-american-area-sloths-anteaters-piranhas-giant-otters/e3/) ### Exam question 4 · formal language · right ✓ {#e4} State the period during which giant ground sloths inhabited the Americas, relative to the extinction of the dinosaurs. - **1.** They inhabit the Americas at the present day — score 2 - **2.** Until about ten thousand years ago, long after the dinosaurs had died out — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 4 - **3.** At the same time as the dinosaurs, and no later — no support - **4.** Before the dinosaurs had appeared — no support **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 4, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 74, line 5: «Ammonites were sea animals with coiled shells, related to octopuses and squid, that died out with the dinosaurs about 66 million years ago; fossil hunters keep…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same property (+3); the same action «die out» (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/108-the-south-american-area-sloths-anteaters-piranhas-giant-otters/e4/) - ← previous: [107. The Asian forest area: giant pandas, red pandas,…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/107-the-asian-forest-area-pandas-red-pandas-tapirs-sun-bears/) - next →: [109. Behind the scenes: a day with the keepers](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/109-behind-the-scenes-a-day-with-the-keepers/) - ↑ back to [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/)