Biology · Science General

Evolution and Biological Adaptation

1,354 Questions

Evolution and biological adaptation focus on natural selection, speciation events, and how organisms adjust to environmental changes over time. These foundational biology concepts appear frequently in general science sections of civil services and school board examinations. Use these questions to study evolutionary theories, ancestral traits, and the fossil record.

Natural selection mechanismsSpeciation event examplesBiological adaptation traitsPanspermia hypothesis conceptsFossil record analysisMate selection theories

Evolution and Biological Adaptation Questions

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements are true regarding inclusive fitness? A. It is the sum of direct and indirect fitness effects of an individual’s behavior B. It provides evolutionary explanation for altruistic behavior C. It is judged by the number of offsprings

  1. A and B

  2. Only A

  3. Only B

  4. Only C

  5. A, B and C
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
E Correct answer
Explanation

The inclusive fitness of an organism is judged by the number of offspring it has, how they support them, and how their offspring could support others. The concept serves to explain how natural selection can perpetuate altruism. If there is an 'altruism gene (or complex of genes) that influences an organism's behavior to be helpful and protective of relatives and their offspring, this behavior also increases the proportion of the altruism gene in the population, because relatives are likely to share genes with the altruist due to common descent.

Multiple choice

Which of the following books are authored by Charles Darwin?

  1. Philosophic Zoologique and Origin of species

  2. Essay on population and Descent of Man

  3. Systema Naturae and Philosophic Zoologique

  4. Origin of species and Descent of Man

  5. Essay on population and Origin of species
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Origin of species: Charles Darwin Descent of Man: Charles Darwin

Multiple choice

Consider the following facts:

  1. The term biological diversity was first used by wildlife scientist and conservationist Raymond F. Dasmann.
  2. It is estimated that only half of the species which existed on Earth are extant today.

Which of the above statements is/are true?

  1. Only 1

  2. Only 2

  3. Both 1 and 2

  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The term biological diversity was first used by wildlife scientist and conservationist Raymond F. Dasmann in the 1968 lay book 'A Different Kind of Country' advocating conservation. The term was widely adopted only after more than a decade, when in the 1980s it came into common usage in science and environmental policy. Rapid environmental changes typically cause mass extinctions. One estimate is that less than 1% of the species that have existed on Earth are extant. A variation of this estimate pegs the percentage of extant species to 2%.

Multiple choice

Which of the following do(es) not determine human evolution?

  1. Relationships with other species

  2. Fossil dating

  3. DNA sequence

  4. Skin colour
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

We can determine human evolution by studying the fossils and also by studying the relationships of structure, anatomy, etc. with other species. The similarity and relationships can also be established by studying the DNA sequences of humans and comparing with other species. But skin colour cannot be used for determining human evolution because it has a huge variation in the same species.

Multiple choice

Which of the following could not be explained by Darwin’s Natural Selection Theory?

  1. Presence of Tasmanian wolf only in Tasmania, having become extinct from the Australian mainland

  2. Long neck and long legs of giraffe

  3. Retention of characters of no use or vestigial organs

  4. Growth of numerous young trees below the parent trees and perishment of many of them

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Natural selection is the gradual process by which heritable biological traits become either more or less common in a population as a function of the effect of inherited traits on the differential reproductive success of organisms interacting with their environment. It is a key mechanism of evolution. The term "natural selection" was popularised by Charles Darwin, who intended it to be compared with artificial selection, now more commonly referred to as selective breeding.

Multiple choice

According to Darwin, the organic evolution is due to

  1. intraspecific competition

  2. interspecific competition

  3. mutation

  4. reduced feeding efficiency in one species due to the presence of interfering species
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

According to Darwinism, competition between two different species is the key factor for organic evolution since it results in divergent evolution.

Multiple choice

Consider the following statements:

(a) Darwin differentiated between somatic and germinal variations. (b) Darwin failed to explain how an animal would evolve from aquatic animals. (c) A number of vestigial organs persisting generation after generation has no explanation according to Darwinism.

Which of the above statements is/are incorrect?

  1. Only (a)

  2. Only (b)

  3. Only (c)

  4. All of the above

  5. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Statement (a) is incorrect. Darwin did not differentiate between somatic and germinal variations.

Multiple choice

‘Natural selection’ selects individuals who are

  1. most adapted for survival

  2. least adapted for survival

  3. more in number

  4. less in number
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Natural selection refers to the phenomenon where nature selects those organisms which are well adapted. This means that they adjust with the changing environment and survive. Those which are least adapted are unable to survive. 

Multiple choice

Which of the given options will consolidate the meaning of the following characteristics of biological systems? A. Spontaneous folding of proteins. B. Formation of precise groups by birds or animals like herds, flocks, fleets, etc. C. Coordinated movement of insects. D. Formation of lipid bilayer membranes and the organisation of lipids.

  1. Entropy in biological systems

  2. Optimisation in biological systems

  3. Self-organisation in biological systems

  4. Patternisation of biological systems
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The given statements are nothing but examples of self-organisation in biological systems. Self-organisation is a process, where some form of global order or coordination arises out of the local interactions between the components of an initially disordered system.