EXERCISE II

Evolution

SECTION A : KVPY PYQs

1) ‘On the Origin of Species, by Means of Natural Selection’ was written by-
[KVPY SA 2009]
a) Hugo de Vries
b) Charles Dickens
c) Charles Darwin
d) Alfred Russel Wallace

2) Vestigial organs such as the appendix exist because-

[KVPY SA 2011]
a) They had an important function during development which is not needed in the adult
b) They have a redundant role to play if an organ with similar function fails
c) Nature cannot get rid of structures that have already formed
d) They were inherited from an evolutionary ancestor in which they were functional

3) In evolutionary terms, an Indian schoolboy is more closely related to-

[KVPY SA 2011]
a) An Indian frog
b) An American snake
c) A Chinese horse
d) An African shark

4) Prehistoric forms of life are found in fossils. The probability of finding fossils of more complex organisms-
[KVPY SA 2012]
a) Increases from lower to upper strata
b) Decreases from lower to upper strata
c) Remains constant in each stratum
d) Uncertain

5) Which one of the following animals is the connecting link between reptiles and mammals
[KVPY SA 2016]
a) Platypus
b) Bat
c) Armadillo
d) Frog
 6) Jean Baptiste Lamarck explained evolution based on
[KVPY SA 2017]
a) Natural selection
b) Survival of the fittest
c) Mutations
d) Inheritance of acquired characters

7) Of the periods listed below, which one is the earliest period when ostracoderms, the jawless and finless
fishes, appeared?
[KVPY SA 2017]
a) Devonian period
b) Cambrian period
c) Carboniferous period
d) Silurian period

8) Which of the following is a CORRECT statement about primates’ evolution-

[KVPY SA 2019]
a) Chimpanzees and gorillas evolved from macaques
b) Humans and chimpanzees evolved from gorillas
c) Humans, chimpanzees and gorillas evolved from a common ancestor
d) Humans and gorillas evolved from chimpanzees

9) The mode of speciation mediated by geographic isolation is referred as-

[KVPY SA 2019]
a) Adaptive radiation
b) Allopatric speciation
c) Parapatric speciation
d) Sympatric speciation

10) Who among the following scientists proposed the theory of natural selection independently of Charles
Darwin?
[KVPY SA 2020]
a) Alfred Russel Wallace
b) Carolus Linnaeus
c) Georges Cuivier
d) Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
 11) Anthropocene refers to the geological age during which-
[KVPY SA 2020]
a) The earliest hominids radiated from their ancestral forms
b) Human activity significantly influenced climate and environment
c) Arthropod radiation was highest
d) Arthropod radiation significantly influenced climate and environment

12) Four birds have different egg colours,

[1] white with no markings,
[2] pale brown with no markings,
[3] grey-brown with dark streaks and spots,
[4] pale blue with dark blue-green spots.
Based on egg colour, which species is most likely to nest in a deep tree hole?
[KVPY SB/SX 2010]
a) [1]
b) [2]
c) [3]
d) [4]

13) Consider a locus with two alleles, A and a. If the frequency of AA is 0.25, what is the frequency of A under
Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?
[KVPY SB/SX 2010]
a) 1
b) 0.25
c) 0.5
d) 0

14) Modern evolutionary theory consists of the concepts of Darwin modified by knowledge concerning-
[KVPY SB/SX 2011]
a) Population statistics
b) Mendel’s laws
c) The idea of survival of the fittest
d) Competition

15) Fossils are most often found in which kind of rocks?

[KVPY SB/SX 2012]
a) Meteorites
b) Igneous rocks
c) Sedimentary rocks
d) Metamorphic rocks
 16) Species that are most effective at colonising new habitats show-
[KVPY SB/SX 2013]
a) Low reproductive ability
b) High dispersal ability
c) Slow growth and maturation
d) High competitive ability

17) In a large isolated population, alleles p and q at a locus are at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The frequencies
are p = 0.6 and q = 0.4. The proportion of the heterozygous genotype in the population is-
[KVPY SB/SX 2013]
a) 0.24
b) 1
c) 0.48
d) 0.12

18) Forelimbs of whales, bats, humans and cheetah are examples of which of the following processes?
[KVPY SB/SX 2014]
a) Divergent evolution
b) Convergent evolution
c) Adaptation
d) Saltation

19) A human population containing 200 individuals has two alleles at the ‘T’ locus, named T and t. T, which
produces tall individuals, is dominant over t, which produces short individuals. If the population has 90 TT,
40 Tt and 70 tt genotypes, what will be the frequencies of these two alleles in this population?
[KVPY SB/SX 2016]
a) T, 0.50 : t, 0.50
b) T, 0.55 : t, 0.45
c) T, 0.45 : t, 0.55
d) T, 0.90 : t, 0.10

20) Which of the following is an essential condition for a population to be at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?
[KVPY SB/SX 2017]
a) Random mating
b) Immigration
c) Emmigration
d) Geographic isolation
 21) A researcher found petrified dinosaur faeces. Which one of the following is unlikely to be found in this
fossil?
[KVPY SB/SX 2018]
a) Decayed conifer wood
b) Bamboo
c) Cycad
d) Giant fern

22) In a population NAA and Naa are the numbers of homozygous individuals of allele ‘A’ and ‘a’, respectively
and NAa is the number of heterozygous individuals. Which one of the following options is the allele
frequency of ‘A’ and ‘a’ in a population with NAA = 90, NAa = 40 and Naa = 70?
[KVPY SB/SX 2019]
a) A = 0.55 and a = 0.45
b) A = 0.40 and a = 0.60
c) A = 0.35 and a = 0.65
d) A = 0.25 and a = 0.75

23) The bill sizes in a bird species of seed crackers from West Africa show a bimodal distribution. Their most
abundant food sources are two types of marsh plants that produce hard and soft seeds, consumed
preferentially by the large and small billed birds, respectively. This bimodal distribution of bill sizes is a
likely consequence of-
[KVPY SB/SX 2019]
a) Directional selection
b) Stabilising selection
c) Disruptive selection
d) Sexual selection

24) In a diploid population at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, consider a locus with two alleles. The frequencies
of these two alleles are denoted by p and q, respectively. Heterozygosity in this population is maximum at-
[KVPY SB/SX 2020]
a) p = 0.25, q = 0.75
b) p = 0.40, q = 0.60
c) p = 0.60, q = 0.40
d) p = 0.50, q = 0.50
 SECTION B: IAT PYQs

25) A population of finch birds with medium sized beaks colonises an island with plants producing medium
and large sized seeds. After a disease wipes out all plants with medium sized seeds, what is most likely to
happen to the finches?
[IAT 2017]
a) They will become extinct
b) Their beaks will not change at all
c) Their beaks will become larger
d) Their beaks will become smaller

26) The following plots represent the body size distributions of a fruit fly population. Dashed lines represent
the ancestral distributions and continuous lines represent the distributions after a few generations. If the
larger individuals have better survival as well as higher reproductive rates, which diagram below best
represents the expected change in the distribution of body size (X-axis represents body size while Y-axis
represents frequency)?
[IAT 2019]

a)

b)

c)
d)

27) Which of these factors is least likely to cause deviation from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?
[IAT 2021]
a) Gene flow
b) Mutation
c) Genetic drift
d) Reduction in population size

28) Nine percent of a population cannot taste a certain food item because of a recessive allele of the gene IAT.
Assuming the population is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, what will be the frequency of dominant and
recessive alleles, respectively?
[IAT 2022]
A. 0.7 and 0.3
B. 0.9 and 0.1
C. 0.3 and 0.7
D. 0.1 and 0.9

SECTION C: NEST PYQs

29) The following ideas/discoveries have provided key inputs to our understanding of the evolution of species
in nature:
[NEST 2008]
a) Principles of Natural Selection due to Charles Darwing and Alfred Wallace
b) Law of Genetics by Georg Mendel
c) Concept of Mutation by Hugo de Vries
d) Concept of Punctuated Evolution by
30) Key features in the evolution of animal kingdom against time scale are shown in figure:

The traits marked 1,2 and 3 are, respectively:

[NEST 2008]
a) Lobed fins; jaws; limbs
b) Vertebrae; limbs; amniotic membrane
c) Swim bladder; lungs; hair
d) Lungs; jaws; milk

31) Similarity resulting from common ancestry is known as homology. Identify the homologous pairs from the
following:
[NEST 2008]
a) Wings of sparrow and bats
b) Whale fins and bat wings
c) Bills of duck and platypus
d) Hair in cows and bats

32) The Darwinian fitness can be estimated by:

[NEST 2009]
a) Documenting how long different individuals in a population survive
b) Counting the number of offsprings produced by different individuals in a population
c) Determining which individuals have large size in a population
d) Determining which phenotype is the most common one in a population

33) Which of the following best characterises adaptive radiation?

[NEST 2009]
a) Speciation occurs extremely rapidly, and descendant populations are confined to a small geographical
area
b) A single lineage diversifies rapidly, and descendant populations occupy many habitats
c) Natural selection is particularly intense as disruptive selection occurs
d) Species recover after a mass extinction
34) Troglobites are animals that spend their entire life in a very stable, unchanging cave environment. Which of
the following adaptations will be seen in these animals?
[NEST 2010]
a) detrivory or carnivory.
b) loss of pigmentation.
c) reduced antennae.
d) reduced photoreceptors.

35) Increased application of pesticides and insecticides has been shown to increase the occurrence of resistant
varieties of pests and pathogens. What could be the probable reasons for the rapid evolution of resistant
varieties of insects?
(i) Mutations in the existing population of insects/pests.
(ii) Preferential multiplication of resistant individuals.
(iii) Rapid degradation of the insecticide/pesticide.
(iv) Migration of insects/pests away from the sprayed areas.
[NEST 2013]
a) (iii) and (iv) only.
b) (i) and (ii) only.
c) (i) and (iii) only.
d) (ii) and (iv) only.

36) Evolutionary relationships between species, such as humans and the apes, can be studied by using
immunological techniques to compare proteins. A rabbit when injected with human serum protein albumin,
forms antibodies against it. These antibodies are extracted and purified. A fixed amount of antibody is
reacted with a fixed amount of albumin from some of the ape species - gorilla, orangutan, chimpanzee and
gibbon, to obtain respective precipitates. The amounts of precipitates obtained are given below.

Based on the given data, the evolutionary closeness of the above apes to humans is:
[NEST 2014]
a) Orangutan > Gorilla
b) Gibbon > Orangutan
c) Chimpanzee > Gorilla
d) Gibbon > Chimpanzee
37) Cladograms are branched diagrams representing evolutionary relationships. A cladogram with
representative animals is shown below.

The traits M, N, O and P would represent:

[NEST 2016]
a) M: Nails, N: Jaws, O: Fur, P: Opposable thumb
b) M: Lungs, N: Vertebral column, O: Bipedal locomotion, P: Mammary glands
c) M: Vertebral column, N: Jaws, O: Mammary glands, P: Nails
d) M: Lungs, N: Claws, O: Fur, P: Opposable thumb

38) Over fifty percent of swallows living on cliffs in Nebraska were killed when a cold spell hit the area in
1996. Scientists collected nearly 2000 dead swallows from the base of the cliffs and captured about 1000
live ones. By measuring the body mass of these birds, they found that birds with larger than average body
mass survived the cold spell better than the ones with smaller than average body mass. The data collected
suggests that
[NEST 2016]
a) The population is undergoing natural selection.
b) The population is undergoing disruptive selection.
c) There is directional selection acting on the population.
d) Stabilising selection is acting on the population.

39) The condition(s) that allow(s) a population to exist in genetic equilibrium is/are:
[NEST 2018]
a) Mutation leading to an increase in fitness should occur.
b) Migration of individuals should be prevented so that alleles found in one area may not get removed from
or introduced to other areas.
c) All individuals in an area should have an equal chance of survival.
d) Random change in allelic combinations occurring during meiosis should get absorbed without any scope
for their preferential multiplication.
40) The common morning glory (Ipomoea purpurea) exhibits two flower colours, where purple is dominant
over pink. Within a population of common morning glory which is at genetic equilibrium, 9% of all
flowers are pink. Assuming that there are no other compounding factors, what is the frequency of flowers
in the population which are heterozygous?
[NEST 2019]
a) 0.30
b) 0.70
c) 0.21
d) 0.42

41) Phylogenetic relationship among plants (P, Q, R, S) based on their shared characters is shown in the
cladogram below

Identify the plants P, Q, R and S in the correct order

[NEST 2019]
a) P - ferns, Q - pines, R - lilies, S - liverworts
b) P - Liverworts, Q - ferns, R - pines, S - lilies
c) P - Liverworts, Q - ferns, R - lilies, S - pines
d) P - Pines, Q - ferns, R - liverworts, S - lilies
42) Cladogram is a diagram used to represent the evolutionary relationships between groups of organisms. The
following cladogram shows the relationship between some groups of vertebrates. From the options
provided, identify the features that denote M, N, O, P, Q and R in the correct order:

[NEST 2019]
a) Vertebrae, bony skeleton, four limbs, amniotic egg, eggs with shell, hair.
b) Vertebrae, four limbs, bony skeleton, amniotic egg, hair, eggs with shell.
c) Vertebrae, bony skeleton, amniotic egg, four limbs, eggs with shell, hair.
d) Vertebrae, bony skeleton, four limbs, hair, eggs with shell, amniotic egg.

43) A bird species X is restricted to Narcondam island (NI) in Andaman and bird species Y is restricted to
Middle Andaman Islands (MAI). NI has an area of 8 sq. km and MAI has an area of 1500 sq. km. Based on
the fossil record, a researcher found a common ancestor of species X and Y in Myanmar, which had a long
and pointed beak. Almost all the members of species X have a long and pointed beak that is specialised to
feed on larvae of the beetle Wallacea, found only in the coconut trees in NI. Most of the population of
species Y either has a very short and blunt beak to break open nuts, or long and blunt beaks to feed on
small lizards. Very rarely members of species Y are found with long and pointed beaks. Given this
scenario, choose the correct statement from the following:
[NEST 2020]
a) Species X has undergone directional selection in NI
b) Species Y has undergone directional selection in MAI
c) Species Y has undergone stabilising selection in MAI
d) Species X has undergone stabilising selection in NI

44) Hydra has a receptor Q in certain cell(s) that respond(s) to a specific neurotransmitter P1 isolated from
brains of higher mammals. An experimenter finds that many species have neurotransmitters that are
structurally related to P1 and have functional homologs of receptor Q. Binding of P to Q elicits a neuronal
response. A summary of the study is given below
 Based on this information choose the statement(s) that is/are likely to be true:
[NEST 2020]
a) In mammals, P3 can compete with P1, P2 and P4 for eliciting the response.
b) Insects might’ve lost the gene Q due to loss of endogenous production of the P group of
neurotransmitters.
c) Insects may have lost the gene Q after fish have evolved.
d) In mammals, the Q gene multiplication occurred as a result of diversification of the neurotransmitter P.

45) Similarity between DNA sequences of two eukaryotic species is used to predict their evolutionary
relatedness, pointing to a shared ancestry. In an attempt to evaluate this relatedness, a group of researchers
sequenced and compared two proteins with the same function from the two species. The corresponding
DNA and RNA sequences were also compared to decipher their relatedness. Based on this information, the
correct option is:
[NEST 2021]
a) Though the overall protein sequences are not similar, the conservation of active site residues cannot be
due to convergent evolution.
b) Similarity in the protein sequences, but not in corresponding RNA or DNA sequences can be an
example of divergent evolution.
c) Similarity in introns, but not in exons, is reflective of convergent evolution.
d) Similarity in exons, but not necessarily in introns, is reflective of divergent evolution.
46) A tree depicting the evolutionary relationships between a few animals is given below.

[NEST 2022]

The correct statement regarding the characters 1 - 5 is:

a. characters 3 and 4 are amnion and four limbs respectively

b. character 4 could be hair covering the skin
c. character 1 could represent loss of limbs while 2 could represent lungs
d. characters 2 and 5 could be hinged jaw and hair respectively.

Q47) A tree depicting the evolutionary relationship between animals A to H is shown below.

[NEST 2022]
With respect to the evolutionary tree, the correct statement(s) is/are:

a. If E is lungfish, G and H could be birds and mammals respectively

b. C and D could be flounder fish and salamander respectively
c. A and B could be prawn and crab
d. F could be ants.
 EXERCISE II

Evolution
SECTION A : KVPY PYQs

1.C
2.D
3.C
4.A
5.A
6.D
7.D
8.B
9.B
10.A
11.B
12.A
13,C
14.C
15.C
16.B
17.C
19.A
19.B
20.A
21.A
22.A
23.C
24.B

SECTION B: IAT PYQs

25.C
26.C
27.A
D
28.C
A

SECTION C: NEST PYQs

29. A
30.B
31.B
32.B
33.B
34.B,C,D
35.B
36.C
37.D
38.A,C
39.B,C,D
40.D
41.B
42.A
43.D
44.B,C,D
45.A
46.D
47.A,C