Biology · Science General

Diversity in Living Organisms

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The diversity in living organisms deals with the classification of life forms into various kingdoms and phyla. This topic covers specific traits of bacteria, animal body cavities, and structural adaptations for survival. These fundamentals are crucial for biology sections in medical entrance and state board exams.

Animal phyla characteristicsBacteria and flagellaBiological adaptationsKingdom Animalia classificationBody cavity typesExtinct organism subphylaJawless animals identification

Diversity in Living Organisms Questions

Multiple choice

Which of the following organisms are called prokaryotes?

  1. Green algae, brown algae and red algae

  2. Yeasts and other fungi

  3. Mycoplasma, bacteria and cynobacteria

  4. Bacteria, yeast and virus
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Prokaryotes are organisms without a nucleus or membrane-bound organelles, including bacteria and cyanobacteria. Algae and fungi are eukaryotes. Viruses are not cellular and do not fit either category. The option has a typo: cynobacteria should be cyanobacteria.

Multiple choice

Which feature is common in both living and non living?

  1. Reproduction

  2. Nutrition

  3. Excretion

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

Movement is a physical phenomenon that can be observed in both living things (like animals) and non-living things (like cars or clouds). The other options are biological processes exclusive to living organisms.

Multiple choice

Animals are able to survive in desert conditions because they

  1. drink lot of water

  2. do not feel thirst

  3. are always asleep

  4. usually come out at night

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

Many desert animals are nocturnal, meaning they are active at night to avoid the extreme heat of the day, which helps them conserve water and energy.

Multiple choice

From the passage, it can be inferred that if the flock of birds described in were navigating by compass sense alone, they would, after the storm, fly ________.

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage.

It is ironic that many of us view tropical birds as strange, and perhaps even bizarre, when they vastly outnumber temperate-zone species. The paradox hits home when many aspects of birds we take for granted are, instead, products of a temperate-zone bias—due to the geographic distribution of people who study birds.

The capability of over-water migrants to travel on course is an occult phenomenon. Birds, bees and other species can keep trail of time without any sensory cues from the external world, and such “biological clocks” clearly contribute to their “compass sense.” To find north, for instance, they can use the position of the Sun or stars, along with the time of day, But compass sense alone cannot elucidate how birds navigate the ocean: after a flock traveling east is blown far south by a storm, it will presume the proper northeasterly course to recompense. Like any good pilot, the birds carry a compass. Recent research suggests that cells in the bird's head contain magnetite, an iron oxide crystal that aligns with magnetic north like a tiny compass needle. Scientists think these cells may serve as receptors that send directional information to the brain. Many other animals apparently also have such cells: Magnetite has been found in the heads of migratory fish, sea turtles and humpback whales. Of all the wildlife navigators, birds so far are the best studied. Perhaps, some scientists thought, migrants determine their geographic position on Earth by celestial navigation, almost as human navigators use stars and planets, but this would require of the animals a fantastic map sense.

Researchers now know that some species have a magnetic sense, which might allow migrants to determine their geographic location by detecting variations in the strength of the Earth’s magnetic field.

The researchers found that the birds' ability to select the correct feeder was significantly impaired if the birds had small magnets attached to their beaks. The scientists suggest this is because magnetite, an iron-rich crystal with magnetic properties, is found inside the birds' beaks.

  1. East

  2. North

  3. North west

  4. South

  5. South east
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

(1) This is an 'inference' question, in which the key phrase is 'navigating by compass sense alone'. If the flock flying East had only compass sense (meaning that they know only the direction), they would resume flying East even after the abatement of the storm which had blown them down South. So, (1) is the answer.

Multiple choice

Of the following descriptions of migrating animals, which most strongly suggests that the animals are depending on magnetic cues to orient themselves?

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage.

It is ironic that many of us view tropical birds as strange, and perhaps even bizarre, when they vastly outnumber temperate-zone species. The paradox hits home when many aspects of birds we take for granted are, instead, products of a temperate-zone bias—due to the geographic distribution of people who study birds.

The capability of over-water migrants to travel on course is an occult phenomenon. Birds, bees and other species can keep trail of time without any sensory cues from the external world, and such “biological clocks” clearly contribute to their “compass sense.” To find north, for instance, they can use the position of the Sun or stars, along with the time of day, But compass sense alone cannot elucidate how birds navigate the ocean: after a flock traveling east is blown far south by a storm, it will presume the proper northeasterly course to recompense. Like any good pilot, the birds carry a compass. Recent research suggests that cells in the bird's head contain magnetite, an iron oxide crystal that aligns with magnetic north like a tiny compass needle. Scientists think these cells may serve as receptors that send directional information to the brain. Many other animals apparently also have such cells: Magnetite has been found in the heads of migratory fish, sea turtles and humpback whales. Of all the wildlife navigators, birds so far are the best studied. Perhaps, some scientists thought, migrants determine their geographic position on Earth by celestial navigation, almost as human navigators use stars and planets, but this would require of the animals a fantastic map sense.

Researchers now know that some species have a magnetic sense, which might allow migrants to determine their geographic location by detecting variations in the strength of the Earth’s magnetic field.

The researchers found that the birds' ability to select the correct feeder was significantly impaired if the birds had small magnets attached to their beaks. The scientists suggest this is because magnetite, an iron-rich crystal with magnetic properties, is found inside the birds' beaks.

  1. Pigeons can properly readjust their course even when flying long distances through exceedingly dense fogs.

  2. Bisons are able to reach their destination by passing through a landscape that has been partially alerted by a recent fire.

  3. Elephants are able to find grounds that some members of the herd have never seen before.

  4. Swallows are able to return to a given spot at the same time every year.

  5. Monarch butterflies coming from different parts of North America are able to arrive at the same location each winter.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

(1) (This is an 'inference' question, in which the key phrase is 'magnetic cues''). In first few lines, the author implies that, if only compass sense is being used by them for navigation over the ocean, a flock of birds traveling east will resume traveling east even after they have been blown far south by a storm, and not presume a northeasterly course to recompense, as they actually do. It is on this basis that he suggests that their navigation is based not on compass sense, but on magnetic sense.  We should therefore look for that statement among the choices which describes a situation in which a migrating animal readjusts its course after having been deflected from it through extraneous circumstances. (1) Itself describes such a situation. If pigeons depend only on a compass sense, and determine their migratory course with reference to only the sun and the stars, they would lose their way when passing through exceedingly dense fogs, because they will not be able to see the sun and the stars through such a fog. So, if they still readjust their course so as to be able to reach their intended destination, it means that they still readjust sense alone, but depend on magnetic cues. So, (1) is the answer. (2) is wrong because, if bisons migrate using their compass sense, based on the position of the sun and stars, a partial change in the landscape will not affect their movement. (3) Does not support either the compass sense theory or the magnetic sense theory, and is wrong. (4) And (5) can be elucidated even on the basis of the 'compass sense' theory, and do not point to the existence of a magnetic sense in the migratory birds and insects.

Multiple choice

In maintaining migrating animals would need a fantastic map sense to determine geographic position by celestial navigation, the author intends to express _____________.

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage.

It is ironic that many of us view tropical birds as strange, and perhaps even bizarre, when they vastly outnumber temperate-zone species. The paradox hits home when many aspects of birds we take for granted are, instead, products of a temperate-zone bias—due to the geographic distribution of people who study birds.

The capability of over-water migrants to travel on course is an occult phenomenon. Birds, bees and other species can keep trail of time without any sensory cues from the external world, and such “biological clocks” clearly contribute to their “compass sense.” To find north, for instance, they can use the position of the Sun or stars, along with the time of day, But compass sense alone cannot elucidate how birds navigate the ocean: after a flock traveling east is blown far south by a storm, it will presume the proper northeasterly course to recompense. Like any good pilot, the birds carry a compass. Recent research suggests that cells in the bird's head contain magnetite, an iron oxide crystal that aligns with magnetic north like a tiny compass needle. Scientists think these cells may serve as receptors that send directional information to the brain. Many other animals apparently also have such cells: Magnetite has been found in the heads of migratory fish, sea turtles and humpback whales. Of all the wildlife navigators, birds so far are the best studied. Perhaps, some scientists thought, migrants determine their geographic position on Earth by celestial navigation, almost as human navigators use stars and planets, but this would require of the animals a fantastic map sense.

Researchers now know that some species have a magnetic sense, which might allow migrants to determine their geographic location by detecting variations in the strength of the Earth’s magnetic field.

The researchers found that the birds' ability to select the correct feeder was significantly impaired if the birds had small magnets attached to their beaks. The scientists suggest this is because magnetite, an iron-rich crystal with magnetic properties, is found inside the birds' beaks.

  1. praising the map sense of the migratory birds

  2. certainty that the phenomenon of migration will remain strange

  3. skepticism about celestial navigation as an elucidation

  4. showing interest in various ways accounted for the navigation sense of various trans migratory birds

  5. astonishment that animals apparently navigate in much the same way that human beings do
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

(3) (This is an 'inference' question, for which the key phrase and its location are given in question itself.) The full sentence in which the quoted phrase occurs is, ''Some scientists thought migrants determine their geographic position on earth by celestial navigation, almost as human navigators use stars and planets, but this would demand of the animals a fantastic map sense.'' This implies that the author thinks that birds are not capable of having such map sense. In other words, he is skeptic about the theory that birds determine their migratory routes using the position of the sun and the stars. So, (3) is the answer.

Multiple choice

Arthropods are ------- symmetrical animals.

  1. bilaterally

  2. unilaterally

  3. non symmetrical

  4. straight
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Arthropods, like most complex animals, exhibit bilateral symmetry, meaning their bodies can be divided into two similar halves along a single plane.

Multiple choice

Fastidious organism grows in

  1. precise nutritional and environmental requirements

  2. any nutritional medium

  3. lipid containing media

  4. None of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

A fastidious organism is one that has complex or specific nutritional requirements for growth. It cannot grow on simple or general-purpose media.

Multiple choice

Classification of kingdom protista is based on

  1. locomotory organs

  2. mode of nutrition

  3. mode of reproduction

  4. shape of the cell
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

 Classification of kingdom protista is mainly based on locomotory organs. Flagella and cillia are the locomotory organs of protistans.

Multiple choice

Thylakoids are present in

  1. fungi

  2. viruses

  3. bacteria

  4. slime molds
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

 The thylakoid lipid bilayer shares characteristic features with prokaryotic membranes and the inner chloroplast membrane. For example, acidic lipids can be found in thylakoid membranes, cyanobacteria and other photosynthetic bacteria and are involved in the functional integrity of the photosystems.

Multiple choice

Dictyosomes are absent in

  1. Mucor

  2. Rhizopus

  3. Penicillium

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

 Dictyosomes are not present in Rhizobium.