Evolution – Biological Evolution and Mechanism of Evolution: NEET MCQs with Answers

15 free questions on Evolution – Biological Evolution and Mechanism of Evolution for NEET (UG), starting with previous-year NEET and AIPMT questions. Try each one, then tap Show answer for the answer and a short explanation.

Syllabus covered: Biological Evolution and Mechanism of Evolution: Darwin’s contribution, Modern Synthetic theory of Evolution; Mechanism of evolution- Variation (Mutation and Recombination) and Natural Selection with examples, types of natural selection;

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Question 1

Previous-year question
Darwin's theory of pangenesis resembles the theory of inheritance of acquired characters. What is common to both? [2000]
  1. Development of organs is due to will power
  2. Useful organs become strong and useless ones degenerate
  3. There should be some physical basis of inheritance
  4. The size of organs increases with age
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Answer: (C) There should be some physical basis of inheritance
Explanation: Pangenesis supposed that every part of the body contributes minute gemmules to the reproductive cells, so both theories assume a material link between the body and the germ cells. It was precisely this link that Weismann's germplasm theory denied.

Question 2

Previous-year question
Animals have an innate ability to escape predation. Select the INCORRECT example. [2004]
  1. Poison fangs in snakes
  2. Colour change in the chameleon
  3. Melanism in moths
  4. Enlargement of the body by swallowing air in the puffer fish
Show answer
Answer: (A) Poison fangs in snakes
Explanation: The poison fangs of a snake serve chiefly to kill prey rather than to escape from a predator, so they illustrate offence rather than defence. Camouflage, melanism and inflation of the body are all defensive devices.

Question 3

Previous-year question
Which of the following is most important for speciation? [2002]
  1. Behavioural isolation
  2. Seasonal isolation
  3. Ecological isolation
  4. Reproductive isolation
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Answer: (D) Reproductive isolation
Explanation: A species is defined by the ability of its members to interbreed and produce fertile offspring, so the decisive step in the formation of a new species is the establishment of reproductive isolation. Behavioural, seasonal and ecological isolation are particular mechanisms by which it is achieved.

Question 4

Previous-year question
One of the important consequences of geographical isolation is [2007]
  1. random creation of new species
  2. prevention of speciation
  3. no change in the isolated fauna
  4. speciation through reproductive isolation
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Answer: (D) speciation through reproductive isolation
Explanation: A physical barrier stops gene flow between the separated populations, which then diverge under different selective pressures and by drift. When the differences become great enough to prevent interbreeding even if the barrier is removed, speciation is complete.

Question 5

Previous-year question
Which scientist's name is correctly matched with the theory he put forward? [2008]
  1. de Vries — natural selection
  2. Weismann — theory of continuity of germplasm
  3. Mendel — theory of pangenesis
  4. Pasteur — inheritance of acquired characters
Show answer
Answer: (B) Weismann — theory of continuity of germplasm
Explanation: Weismann proposed the continuity of the germplasm. Natural selection belongs to Darwin and Wallace, pangenesis to Darwin, and the inheritance of acquired characters to Lamarck; de Vries gave the mutation theory and Mendel the laws of inheritance.

Question 6

Previous-year question
The idea of mutations was brought forward by [2012]
  1. Hardy and Weinberg, who worked on allele frequencies
  2. Gregor Mendel, who worked on Pisum sativum
  3. Charles Darwin, who observed organisms during a sea voyage
  4. Hugo de Vries, who worked on evening primrose
Show answer
Answer: (D) Hugo de Vries, who worked on evening primrose
Explanation: de Vries coined the term mutation for the sudden, large and heritable changes he observed in Oenothera, and he held that speciation results from such single-step changes, which he called saltation, rather than from Darwinian gradualism.

Question 7

Previous-year question
de Vries gave his mutation theory of organic evolution while working on [2005]
  1. Oenothera lamarckiana
  2. Pisum sativum
  3. Althaea rosea
  4. Drosophila melanogaster
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Answer: (A) Oenothera lamarckiana
Explanation: de Vries observed sudden large heritable changes in the evening primrose and proposed that evolution proceeds by such saltations rather than by the gradual accumulation of small variations. Many of his mutants proved later to be chromosomal rearrangements.
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Question 8

Previous-year question
The change of the light-coloured peppered moth to its darker variety is due to [1995]
  1. genetic isolation
  2. mutation
  3. temporal isolation
  4. regeneration
Show answer
Answer: (B) mutation
Explanation: The melanic form originates as a mutant allele, and natural selection then determines its frequency according to the colour of the background. Mutation supplies the variation and selection decides its fate.

Question 9

Previous-year question
Industrial melanism as observed in the peppered moth proves that [2007]
  1. melanism is a pollution-generated feature
  2. the melanic form has no selective advantage over the lighter form
  3. the true black melanic forms arise by a recurring random mutation
  4. the lighter form has no selective advantage in polluted areas
Show answer
Answer: (C) the true black melanic forms arise by a recurring random mutation
Explanation: The dark allele arises repeatedly by mutation and was present at low frequency long before industrialisation. Pollution did not create it but altered the selection acting on it, which is why the episode illustrates selection rather than induced change.

Question 10

Previous-year question
Industrial melanism is an example of [2003]
  1. darkening of skin due to industrial smoke
  2. defensive adaptation of skin against ultraviolet radiation
  3. protective resemblance with the surroundings
  4. drug resistance
Show answer
Answer: (C) protective resemblance with the surroundings
Explanation: On soot-blackened trunks the dark moths were concealed from birds while the pale ones were conspicuous, so the dark form increased in frequency. The advantage lies in matching the background, which is protective resemblance.

Question 11

Previous-year question
Using imprints from a plate with complete medium carrying bacterial colonies, streptomycin-resistant mutants can be selected [2005]
  1. only on plates with streptomycin
  2. on plates with and without streptomycin
  3. only on plates without streptomycin
  4. on plates with minimal medium
Show answer
Answer: (A) only on plates with streptomycin
Explanation: In the Lederbergs' replica plating experiment, resistant colonies grow only where the antibiotic is present to eliminate the sensitive ones. Because the resistant colonies always occupy the same positions as on the original plate, the mutation must have arisen before exposure.

Question 12

Previous-year question
Which phenomenon supports Darwin's concept of natural selection? [2005]
  1. The prevalence of pesticide-resistant insects
  2. Development of transgenic animals
  3. Development of organs from stem cells
  4. Production of Dolly the sheep by cloning
Show answer
Answer: (A) The prevalence of pesticide-resistant insects
Explanation: Resistant individuals already present in the population survive spraying and reproduce, so the resistant type increases in frequency generation after generation. This is natural selection observable within a human lifetime; the other three are laboratory manipulations.

Question 13

Previous-year question
Darwin in his theory of natural selection did NOT believe in any role of [2004]
  1. survival of the fittest
  2. discontinuous variations
  3. struggle for existence
  4. parasites and predators as natural enemies
Show answer
Answer: (B) discontinuous variations
Explanation: Darwin held that evolution proceeds by the accumulation of small continuous variations over long periods. Large discontinuous changes, or saltations, formed the basis of de Vries's mutation theory and were not part of Darwin's account.

Question 14

Previous-year question
Which sequence was proposed by Darwin and Wallace for organic evolution? [2003]
  1. Variations, constancy of population size, overproduction, natural selection
  2. Variations, natural selection, overproduction, constancy of population size
  3. Overproduction, constancy of population size, variations, natural selection
  4. Overproduction, variations, constancy of population size, natural selection
Show answer
Answer: (D) Overproduction, variations, constancy of population size, natural selection
Explanation: The argument begins with the observation that organisms produce far more offspring than can survive, that individuals vary, and that population size nevertheless remains roughly constant. From these follows a struggle for existence in which the better adapted are selected.

Question 15

Previous-year question
The Origin of Species was written by [1991]
  1. Lamarck
  2. Oparin
  3. Darwin
  4. Weismann
Show answer
Answer: (C) Darwin
Explanation: Darwin published On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859, after his voyage on the Beagle and twenty years of accumulating evidence. Wallace had independently reached the same conclusion, and their papers were read jointly in 1858.

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