Tag: natural selection

Questions Related to natural selection

State whether the following statements are true or false .
Osmosis is concerned with the movement of water only and cannot directly affect the movement of dissolved substances into the roots and through the plant.

  1. True

  2. False


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Osmosis is the movement of solvent from its higher concentration to its lower concentration across a semipermeable membrane. It does not affect the solute particles and does not facilitate their movements. Thus osmosis does not affect the movement of dissolved substances into roots and through the plant.


So the correct answer is 'True'

State whether the following statements are true or false .
In a fully turgid cell, the wall pressure would be zero.

  1. True

  2. False


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

In a fully turgid cell, water diffuses into the cell causing the cytoplasm to build up pressure against the wall. This pressure is called turgor pressure.

Wall pressure is the pressure exerted on the contents of a plant cell by the cell wall that in equal in force and opposite in direction to turgor pressure.
Therefore the wall pressure in a fully turgid cell will be maximum.
So, the given statement is false.

State whether the following statements are true or false .
DPD of pure water is zero.

  1. True

  2. False


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

DPD or diffusion pressure deficit is the difference in the diffusion pressure of a solution and a pure solvent when both are subjected to the same atmospheric pressure. Since pure solvent has no dissolved solutes in it, therefore it will have maximum diffusion pressure and zero DPD.

So, the given statement is true.

Evolution of diversified species due to environmental changes is called as

  1. Divergent evolution

  2. Convergent evolution

  3. Evolutionary inertia

  4. None of the above


Correct Option: A
Explanation:
Divergent evolution is the accumulation of differences between groups which can lead to the formation of new species, usually a result of diffusion of the same species to different and isolated environments which blocks the gene flow among the distinct populations allowing differentiated fixation of characteristics through genetic drift and natural selection. Primarily diffusion, the basis of molecular division, can be seen in some higher-level characters of structure and function that are readily observable in organisms. For example, the vertebrate limb is one example of divergent evolution. The limb in many different species has a common origin, but has diverged somewhat in overall structure and function.

Theory of ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny was proposed by 

  1. Mendel

  2. Haeckel

  3. Erasmus Darwin

  4. Weismann


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

Ernst Haeckel formulated his theory as "Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny". “Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny” was a commonly used phrase to explain the evidence supporting evolution. Ontogeny is “the complete developmental history of the individual organism,” and phylogeny is defined as “the complete evolutionary history of a group of organisms,”. Thus, this phrase means that the evolutionary history of a group of organisms is repeated during the developmental history of an individual organism of that group. This idea is also known as recapitulation. 

Therefore, the correct answer is option B.

Which one of these is likely to have been absent in free form at the time of origin of life? 

  1. Oxygen

  2. Hydrogen

  3. Ammonia

  4. Methane


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

The primitive atmosphere of earth was reducing atmosphere with no oxygen but was rich in water vapour, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and hydrogen. Owing to immense long lasting rainstorms, a tremendous amount of lightening was generated. Lightening provided energy for chemical reactions between hydrogen and nitrogen and carbon to form ammonia and methane. So, the correct answer is option A.  

An important evidence in favour of organic evolution is the occurrence of 

  1. Homologous and analogous organs

  2. Homologous and vestigial organs

  3. Analogous and vestigial organs

  4. Homologous organs only


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

An imperative proof for natural advancement is the event of homologous and minimal organs. Homologous organs are those which have the regular inception and are based on a similar central example yet they perform diverse capacities and have distinctive appearances, e.g. whale's flipper, bat's wings, feline's paws, steed's front legs, fledgeling's wings, bull's front legs, and human hands.

So, the correct option is 'Homologous and vestigial organs'.

How many years ago and in which environment life originate on the earth?

  1. 3.5 million years and reducing environment

  2. 3.5 billion years and reducing environment

  3. 4.5 million years and reducing environment

  4. 4.5 billion years and reducing environment


Correct Option: B
Explanation:
The scientists have found that simple unicellular organisms (resembling modern Cyanobacteria) were present on this earth about 3600 million years ago. It is believed therefore that life must have originated on this earth about 3.5 billion years ago.
It must be clear that the earth's atmosphere at that time was quite different from as it exists today. The earth's atmosphere at that time was reducing, and oxidizing (as it is today). The primitive atmosphere of earth had hydrogen, nitrogen, water vapours, carbon dioxide, methane and ammonia abundance. Oxygen was not available in free state in sufficient quantities.

Choose the correct answers from the alternatives given.
As a mechanism of microevolution, natural selection can be most closely equated with

  1. assortative mating

  2. genetic drift

  3. differential reproductive success

  4. gene flow


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

Microevolution is the change in allele frequencies that occurs over time within a population. This change is due to four different processes: mutation, selection (natural and artificial), gene flow and genetic drift. As the natural selection a process in which organisms with certain inherited traits are more likely to survive and reproduce than are individuals with other traits. So natural selection is a differential reproductive success as it acquires useful

traits. 
So, the correct answer is differential reproductive success.

The simple organic compounds that may have first evolved in the direction of origin of life on earth may have been

  1. Protein and amino acid

  2. Protein and nucleic acid

  3. Urea and nucleic acid

  4. Urea and amino acid


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

Nucleic acids were formed in a primitive hot soup of sea by the formation of pyrimidine-sugar –phosphate and purine-sugar-phosphate. RNA has the ability of self replication and to catalyze other chemical reactions. Thus, RNA served as an enzyme as well as genetic material in first life forms. Amino acids were formed by condensation, polymerization and redox reactions of hydrocarbons, ammonia and water in Primitive Ocean under influence of energy from UV rays, radiations and lightening. RNA catalyzed polymerization of these amino acids formed polypeptides. The nucleic acid came before proteins. Urea was synthesized as excretory material much later during the evolution of land animals as ammonia is very toxic and requires more water to serve as excretory material. Thus, the correct answer is option B.