Q20. The flippers of penguins and dolphins illustrate which process?
[NEET UG, 13 September 2020]
(A) Industrial melanism
(B) Natural selection alone
(C) Adaptive radiation
(D) Convergent evolution
Answer: (D) Convergent evolution
Explanation: Penguins are birds, while dolphins are mammals; both independently acquired streamlined swimming appendages. Their similarity in function is an example of convergent evolution. It does not mean the two lineages inherited identical flipper modifications from an immediate common ancestor.
Q19. Who challenged Haeckel’s interpretation of embryological evidence for evolution?
[NEET UG, 13 September 2020]
(A) Charles Darwin
(B) Alexander Oparin
(C) Karl Ernst von Baer
(D) Alfred Russel Wallace
Answer: (C) Karl Ernst von Baer
Explanation: Von Baer criticised the claim that embryos of higher animals pass through adult stages of supposedly lower animals. His embryological laws instead describe development from general towards specialised characteristics. Comparative embryology still offers evolutionary evidence without accepting Haeckel’s strict recapitulation claim.
Q18. Match: 1. De Vries; 2. Pasteur; 3. Darwin; 4. Fox,
with a. Special creation; b. Swan-neck flask; c. Protobiosis; d. Origin of Species; e. Mutation theory.
[RPSC Senior Teacher Grade II (Science), 4 July 2019]
(A) 1–e, 2–a, 3–b, 4–d
(B) 1–a, 2–b, 3–d, 4–c
(C) 1–e, 2–b, 3–d, 4–c
(D) 1–a, 2–c, 3–d, 4–b
Answer: (C) 1–e, 2–b, 3–d, 4–c
Explanation: De Vries developed mutation theory, Pasteur used swan-neck flasks to dispute spontaneous generation in present-day conditions, and Darwin wrote Origin of Species. Sidney Fox investigated proteinoid microspheres as laboratory models relevant to early prebiotic systems.
Q17. Approximately when did life begin in Earth’s oceans according to the textbook estimate?
[SSC GD Constable, 21 February 2019, Shift 3]
(A) 1 billion years ago
(B) 100 million years ago
(C) 500 million years ago
(D) 3.5 billion years ago
Answer: (D) 3.5 billion years ago
Explanation: The exam used an estimate of about 3.5 billion years for the earliest oceanic life. Very ancient microbial evidence supports life existing billions of years before animals arose. Precise dating and interpretation remain active research topics, but life clearly predates the Cambrian.
Q16. Non-avian dinosaurs became extinct approximately 65–66 million years ago at the end of which period?
[SSC Junior Engineer (Civil), 23 September 2019, Morning]
(A) Jurassic
(B) Permian
(C) Triassic
(D) Cretaceous
Answer: (D) Cretaceous
Explanation: The Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary marks the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs about 66 million years ago. A major asteroid impact is strongly implicated. Birds are surviving dinosaur descendants, so saying every dinosaur vanished would not be scientifically accurate.
Q15. What form of speciation occurs when a species becomes divided into geographically isolated groups?
[Allahabad High Court Review Officer, 2019]
(A) Allopatric
(B) Peripatric
(C) Parapatric
(D) Sympatric
Answer: (A) Allopatric
Explanation: Allopatric speciation starts when a geographical barrier limits gene flow between populations. Mutations, selection and genetic drift can then produce divergence. If reproductive incompatibilities develop, the separated groups may remain distinct even after geographical contact is restored.
Q14. What are organs with different anatomical origins but similar appearances and functions termed?
[RRB Group D, 16 October 2018, Shift 3]
(A) Fossils
(B) Homologous organs
(C) Analogous organs
(D) Biogenetic law
Answer: (C) Analogous organs
Explanation: Analogous organs evolve independently to perform comparable tasks. Bird and insect wings, for example, share flight function but differ in anatomy and evolutionary origin. By contrast, homologous organs preserve a common structural pattern inherited from a shared ancestor.
Q13. Which term in the Hardy–Weinberg equation denotes the expected frequency of heterozygotes?
[DSSSB TGT Natural Science (Female), 27 September 2018, Shift 2]
(A) 2qp²
(B) q²
(C) 2pq
(D) p²
Answer: (C) 2pq
Explanation: For a diploid population with two alleles of frequencies p and q, the expected heterozygous fraction under Hardy–Weinberg assumptions is 2pq. The corresponding frequencies of the two homozygous genotypes are p² and q².
Q12. With which subject is the Miller–Urey experiment principally associated?
[DSSSB TGT Natural Science (Male), 29 September 2018, Shift 2]
(A) Taxonomy
(B) Genetics
(C) Anatomy
(D) Evolution and the origin of life
Answer: (D) Evolution and the origin of life
Explanation: Miller and Urey modelled chemical reactions under assumed primitive atmospheric conditions. Electrical discharges in a gas-and-water apparatus produced organic compounds including amino acids. This provided experimental support for a stage of chemical evolution, not proof that complete living cells were produced.
Q11. Match: I. Charles Darwin; II. Gregor Mendel; III. J. B. S. Haldane
with 1. Origin of life hypothesis; 2. Theory of evolution; 3. Laws of inheritance.
[SSC CHSL, 13 March 2018, Shift 3]
(A) I–2, II–3, III–1
(B) I–1, II–3, III–2
(C) I–3, II–1, III–2
(D) I–3, II–2, III–1
Answer: (A) I–2, II–3, III–1
Explanation: Darwin formulated evolution by natural selection, Mendel derived rules for inheritance from pea-plant crosses, and Haldane proposed a chemical explanation of life’s beginnings. Their contributions addressed different but complementary problems of evolutionary biology and heredity.
