Biology · Science General

Diversity in Living Organisms

3,323 Questions

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

Blue-green algae are able to produce highly potent toxins. Which among the following toxins is/are not produced by blue-green algae?

  1. Endotoxins

  2. Non-specific toxins

  3. Hepatotoxins

  4. Gyromitrin

  5. Neurotoxins
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Gyromitrin is a toxin and carcinogen present in several members of the fungal genus Gyromitra, most notably the false morel G. esculenta. It is unstable and is easily hydrolyzed to the toxic compound monomethylhydrazine, a component of some rocket fuels.

Multiple choice

Which among the following statements regarding blue-green algae is false?

  1. The DNA in blue-green algae is contained within a single, circular, looping chromosome.

  2. Blue-green algae have the ability to produce toxins.

  3. Most blue-green algae may appear red, yellow, green, brown or black.

  4. Blue-green algae do not exhibit sexual reproduction.

  5. Homocystous cells can perform nitrogen fixation.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
E Correct answer
Explanation

Heterocystous cells can perform nitrogen fixation by absorbing free nitrogen in the air and transform free nitrogen to organic substances that may be used to fertilize the soil. The number and position of heterocysts are important features used to classify blue-green algae.

Multiple choice

Which among the following statements regarding green algae is incorrect?

  1. Green algae have chloroplasts that contain chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b.

  2. All green algae have mitochondria with curved cristae.

  3. Green algae have served as model experimental organisms to understand the mechanisms of osmoregulation.

  4. Green algae contain sulfated polysaccharides.

  5. Green algae are eukaryotic organisms.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

All green algae have mitochondria with flat cristae. When present, paired flagella are used to move the cell. They are anchored by a cross-shaped system of microtubules and fibrous strands.

Multiple choice

Which among the following statements regarding the vestigial organs is incorrect?

  1. Vestigial traits can still be considered adaptations.

  2. Vestigial structures are often heterologous to structures that are functioning normally in other species.

  3. There are also vestigial molecular structures present in humans.

  4. The formation of goose bumps in humans under stress is a vestigial reflex.

  5. The human caecum is a vestigial organ.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Vestigial structures are often homologous to structures that are functioning normally in other species. Therefore, vestigial structures can be considered evidence for evolution, the process by which beneficial heritable traits arise in populations over an extended period of time.

Multiple choice

Which one of the following features is not related to penguins?

  1. Good swimmer

  2. White fur

  3. Thick and fatty skin

  4. Inhabitant of tropical rainforest
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Penguin is a well know animal living in the polar regions. It is white, has a thick skin and a lot of fat to protect it from cold. Penguins are inhabitants of polar regions and not the tropical regions

Multiple choice

Which of the following sponges closely resemble the sea anemones?

  1. Demosponge

  2. Hexactinellids

  3. Octocorallia

  4. Hexacorallia

  5. Cerianthids
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
E Correct answer
Explanation

Cerianthids look very similar to sea anemones. They are solitary, living buried in soft sediments. Tube anemones live and can withdraw into tubes, which are made of a fibrous material, which is made from secreted mucus and threads of nematocyst-like organelles, known as ptychocysts.

Multiple choice

Members of ___________ order are commonly known as velvet worms.

  1. the Kinorhynchans

  2. the Loricifera

  3. the Priapulids

  4. the Nematomorphs

  5. the Onychophora
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
E Correct answer
Explanation

Onychophora is commonly known as velvet worms.They are segmented creatures with a flattened cylindrical body. Their skin consists of numerous, fine transverse rings and is often inconspicuously coloured orange, red or brown.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is a hermaphrodite sponge?

  1. S. officinalis

  2. Haliclona compress

  3. Agelas clathrodes

  4. Chalinula nematifera

  5. Azure vase sponge
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

S. officinalis is a hermaphrodite; each one has both ova and sperm. When ripe, their sperm escape the body through vents and float around the sea until they are sucked into the pores of another sponge by a water current. This sponge is dark grey or purplish when alive. When dry they can either be yellow or brown.

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements regarding the sponges is INCORRECT?

  1. All sponges are sessile aquatic animals.

  2. Most species follows sexual reproduction.

  3. Sponges are multicellular autotrophic and produce sperm cells.

  4. The sponge's closest single-celled relatives are thought to be choanoflagellates.

  5. The mesohyl functions, as an endoskeleton in most sponges.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Sponges are similar to other animals in that they are multicellular, heterotrophic, lack cell walls and produce sperm cells. Unlike other animals, they lack true tissues and organs and have no body symmetry.

Multiple choice

Which of the following lobate sponges has tendency to form upright, short, anastomosing tubes?

  1. Row Pore Rope Sponge

  2. Scattered pore rope sponge

  3. Chimney sponge

  4. Chicken-liver sponge

  5. Branching vase sponge
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

These sponges are lobate, repent masses with a tendency to form upright, short, anastomosing tubes. Individual lobes 2-3 cm in diameter, tubes up to 4 cm high. Oscules and vents apical, up to 12 mm in diameter, flush or with thin collars.  

Multiple choice

Which of the following sponges is characterised by rubbery, cheese-like consistency?

  1. Agelas clathrodes

  2. Agelas conifera

  3. Agelas nsp.

  4. Amphimedon viridis

  5. Aiolochroia crassa
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
E Correct answer
Explanation

These sponges are  chiefly massive, frequently lobate to rarely ramose. Ramose outcrops up to 15 cm long, lobes up to 6 cm high. Total size up to 17 cm in diameter in massive specimens. Their surface is irregularly conulose, with large smooth areas showing fields of pores. The consistency is rubbery, cheese-like and somewhat compressible.

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements does NOT characterises bath sponges?

  1. They are more-or-less cup-shaped animals.

  2. Some species of glass sponges forms bioherms.

  3. Glass sponges are relatively uncommon.

  4. The body is relatively asymmetrical.

  5. Much of the body is composed of syncitial tissue.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The body is relatively symmetrical, with a large central cavity that in many species, opens to the outside through a sieve formed from the skeleton.