Heredity and Evolution

Multiple Choice Questions the following principles is highlighted in the

given example?
1. What is organic evolution? (a) Artificial selection (b) Natural selection
(a) Formation of more and more complex (c) Lamarckism (d) Speciation
organisms from simpler ones through gradual
changes. 9. Which of the following statements is are true of
(b) The act of special creation that brought all palaeontology?
the organisms into this world. (a) It provides indirect evidence in favour of
(c) Life started from non-living matter in one organic evolution.
day. (b) It does not help us to compare the 'past' with
(d) Developed from organisms which arose from the 'present'.
chemical reactions in the ocean. (c) It helps us to know the exact period of the
formation of a species.
2. The fossil trilobite was originally (d) All of the above
(a) a vertebrate. (b) an invertebrate.
(c) a reptile. (d) a bird. 10. Which of the following is the connecting link
between the birds and reptiles?
3. Who among the following did not propose the (a) Dinosaurs (b) Mammoths
theory of evolution? (c) Archaeopteryx (d) Pliohippus
(a) Jean Baptiste Lamark
(b) Hugo Devries 11. Which of the following processes is responsible
(c) Gregor Mendel for the change in the wing colour of peppered
(d) Charles Darwin moths in industrial areas of Britain?
(a) Hybridisation (b) Mutation
4. In which book did Lamark publish his theory of (c) Artificial selection (d)Evolution
organic evolution?
(a) Origin of life 12. Which of these are identified to be the earliest of
(b) Philosophic Zoologique the life forms?
(c) Surival of the fittest (a) Fungi (b) Cyanobacteria
(d) Struggle for existence (c) Protozoa (d) Plants

5. Who suggested the theory that organs which are 13. A population of mice, some with light- coloured
not used may eventually lose their function and fur and some with dark- coloured fur, is
may even disappear? introduced into a field with dark soil. A few
(a) Mendel (b) Darwin generations later, the majority of the mice have
(c) Devries (d) Lamarck dark- coloured fur. Which of the following best
explains this change?
6. Who among the following scientists rejected and (a) Light-coloured mice are dispersed to other
disproved the Lamarckian m theory? areas.
(a) Gregor Mendel (b) Hugo de Vries (b) Dark-coloured mice have fewer off springs.
(c) August Weisman (d) Francis Crick (c) Dark-coloured mice are better able to hide
from their predators.
7. Which of the following statements is true of (d) Light-coloured mice can run faster.
Natural selection?
(a) Organisms with favourable characters are 14. Who among the following proved the theory that
selected by nature. hydrogen, water, methane and ammonia may
(b) Organisms with un favourable characters are have originally given rise to amino acids?
selected by nature. (a) Devries (b) Stanley Miller
(c) Organisms with favourable characters are (c) Lamarck (d) Charles Darwin
selected by man.
(d) Organisms with favourable and unfavourable 15. Which of the following features is true of
characters are selected by man. Homologous structures?
(a) Dissimilar origin and dissimilar functions.
8. In the industrial areas of Britain, light coloured (b) Dissimilar origin but similar functions
peppered moths gradually became black to (c) Similar origin but dissimilar functions
blend with the changing environment, which of (d) Dissimilar origin and dissimilar structure
16. Which of the following statements is true of 25. Which of the following is/are possible examples
analogous structure? of variation within a human family?
(a) Different origin and structural plan but (a) Skin colour (b) Height
appear similar and perform similar functions. (c) Earlobes (d) All of these
(b) Functionally similar and of same origin
(c) Structurally and functionally similar 26. The study of heredity and variations is called
(d) Normally non-functionabie (a) ecology. (b) histology.
(c) genetics. (d) paleozoology.
17. Which of the following is the vestigial organ in
man? 27. A sudden irreversible change that takes place in
(a) Vermiform appendix (b) Cervical vertebra the genotype of an organism is called.
(c) Atlas (d) Soft palate (a) Evolution (b) Mutation
(c) Melanism (d) Natural selection
18. Who wrote the famous book the 'Origin of
Species'? 28. Which of the following phenomena involves the
(a) Wallace (b) Linnaeus production of big leaves and coloured cabbage?
(c) Lamarck (d) Darwin (a) Reproductive isolation
(b) Artificial selection
19. Which of the following terms is used to describe (c) Natural selection
the ancestral history of an organism? (d) Geographical selection
(a) Phylogeny (b) Ontogeny
(c) Biogenetic law (d) Genetics 29. Which of the following processes is/are
responsible for the change of the red- coloured
20. Which of the following is the raw material for beetle to green-coloured beetle?
organic evolution? (a) Variations (b) Regenerations
(a) Struggle for existence (c) Isolation (d) None of these
(b) Use or disuse of organs
(c) Variations 30. Which of the following are examples of
(d) Mutations homologous origin?
(a) Wings of pigeon and mosquito
21. Mutations are generally (b) Wings of pigeon and housefly
(a) continous variations. (b) discontinuous. (c) Wings of pigeon and arms of man
(c) not variations. (d) all of the above. (d) Wings of bat, housefly and butterfly

22. What is evolution?

(a) History of changes that have taken place in
an animal from birth to death.
(b) History of changes that have taken place in a
species of living thing, over a period of
thousands of years.
(c) History of changes that have taken place in a
species of plants over a period of fifty years.
(d) History of changes that have taken took
place in an animal species over a period of fifty
years.

23. Which of the following provide(s) evidence of

organic evolution?
(a) Morphological evidence
(b) Anatomical evidence
(c) Embryological evidence
(d) All of the above

24. Which of the following is a result of natural

selection?
(a) Beef cattle
(b) Disease-resistant crop plants
(c) Insecticide-resistant mosquitoes
(d) Seedless oranges

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 Previous Contest Questions (a) Allele (b) Cistron
(c) Pecon (d) Operon

1. Hargobind Khorana was awarded the Nobel 6. Dihybrid cross is related to the principle of
prize for his work in the field of (a) dominance.
(a) hormones. (b) purity of gametes.
(b) immunology. (c) independent assortment.
(c) genetic Engineering. (d) all of the above.
(d) chromosomal abberation.
7. Which of the following is the phenotypic ratio in
2. Which of the following is the genotypic ratio in F2 generation of monohybrid cross?
F2 generation of monohybrid cross? (a) [Link] (b) 3:1
(a) [Link] (b) 3:1 (c) 1:1 (d) 1:2
(c) 1:1 (d) 1:2
8. Which part of the pea flower did Mendel remove
3. Which of the following statements describes to prevent self pollination in his experimental
mono hybrid cross? plant?
(a) Cross between two plants differing in one (a) Anthers (b) Stigma
character of the same species. (c) Ovary (d) Style
(b) Cross where only one parent plant is used
(c) Cross between two plants differing in two 9. Genetics is the study of
characters (a) inheritance. (b) evolution.
(d) Cross between two species of plants of the (c) history. (d) cell structure.
different species.
10. Which of the following is the phenotype ratio of
4. Which of the following is a recessive trait in the F2 generation in dihybrid crosses?
garden pea?
(a) [Link] (b) [Link]
(a) Tall stem (b) Round seeds
(c) [Link] (d) [Link]
(c) Coloured seeds (d) Wrinkled seeds

5. Which of the following is a Mendelian factor that

determines a biological characteristic?

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 Answers with Solutions
Multiple Choice Questions 15. (c) Homologous structures have similar origin
but have different functions. E.g the forelimbs of
1. (a) The diversity of life is the outcome of the different animals have different functions.
gradual changes in simpler ones to form
complex organisms. 16. (a) Analogous organs have different origin and
structural plan, but appear similar and perform
2. (b) The fossil trilobite was originally a marine similar functions.
arthropod an invertebrate.
17. (a) Organs which no longer have a function are
3. (c) Mendel did not propose any theory of known as vestigial organs. These organs have
evolution. reduced structurally as well as functionally. It
appears that these organs were once well
4. (b) In 1809 Lamarck published his book developed and functional in ancestors and later,
'Philosophic Zoologique'. due to their disuse, became reduced. E.g:
Vermiform appendix, ear muscles, third eyelid in
5. (d) According to Lamarck, organs which are man.
continuously used will develop well while those
organs which are used less will become gradually 18. (d) Charles Robert Darwin (1809 - 1882) wrote
weak and lose their function and may even the famous book the origin of species.
disappear.
19. (a) Phytogeny is the evolutionary history of
6. (c) Weisman explained that characters are not organisms traced by the study of its fossils.
simply inherited due to use or disuse. He
experimented with rats by cutting off their tails. 20. (d) Mutation is the raw material for evolution.
Young rats born to tailless parents had normal
tails. 21. (b) The majority of mutations are harmful, but a
very small proportion of discontinuous variation
7. (a) According to the theory of natural selection may increase fitness in organisms.
organisms with favorable characters are selected
by nature. 22. (b) Evolution can be described as the history of
changes that have taken place in living things
8. (b) Peppered moths becomes black because this since their first appearance on the earth till date.
trait protected them from the insect-eating birds.
Black wings sb helped them to camouflage and 23. (d)Morphological, anatomical and embryological
escape from those birds. evidences support evolution.
9. (c) It helps us to know the exact period of
existence of a species. 24. (c) The overuse of insecticides have resulted in
the formation of mutant varieties of mosquitoes
10. (c) Archaeopteryx is a connecting link between which are resistant to the chemicals in a result of
reptiles and birds. natural selection where the fittest have survived.
11. (b) Wings of peppered moths in industrial areas
of Britain changed to black colour as a result of 25. (d) Skin colour, height and attachment of
mutation. earlobes are possible variations within a human
family.
12. (b) Cyanobacteria has been identified as the first
living organisms that appeared on the earth. 26. (c) The study of heredity and variations is called
genetics.
13. (c) Dark coloured mice were better able to hide
from their predators and so survived. 27. (b) Mutation is a sudden change that takes place
in either the whole chromosome or a gene. It
14. (b) Stanley 1. Miller and Harold C. Urey in 1953 cannot be reversed. It can be caused by factors
gave the experimental evidence of the modern such as radiation and exposure to certain
theory. chemicals.

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28. (b) The phenomenon of producing coloured 8. (a) Mendel removed the anthers of the tall plant
cabbages with big leaves is man-made and is
to prevent self-pollination. He transferred pollen
through artificial selection.
from the anthers of the dwarf plant to the stigma
29. (a) The change of the red-coloured beetle to
of the tall plant.
green-coloured variety is due to variations.

30. (c) The wings of a pigeon and the arms of a man

9. (a) Genetics is the study of inheritance.
are homologous.

Previous Contest Questions 10. (c) The phenotype ratio of the F2 generation in a
1. (c) Hargobind Khorana was an Indian born dihybrid cross is [Link].
scientist who settled in the United States. He did
a lot work in the field of molecular biology. He
solved the genetic code for several amino acids
along with other scientists. He was the first
person to synthesize "gene" He did extensive
work in the discovery of genetic code and for
this he was awarded the Nobel Prize.

2. (a) The genotypic ratio in F2 of monohybrid ratio

is 1 : 2 :1

3. (a) A cross between two plants of the same

species differing in one character is called a
monohybrid cross.

4. (d) Wrinkled seeds are a recessive trait in garden

pea.

5. (a) According to Mendel, each factor that

determines a biological characteristic is called an
allele.

6. (c) Dihybrid cross is related to the independent

assortment.

7. (b) The phenotypic ratio in the F2 generation of

monohybrid cross is 3:1. Three tall and one

dwarf.