Free Evolution MCQs with Answers
814 Evolution MCQs from Biology, each with the correct answer and a written explanation of why it is correct. Free and unlimited, with no account needed.
Evolution describes heritable change in populations over generations through variation, natural selection and adaptation. Lamarckism explains inheritance of acquired characteristics, while Darwinism explains selection of favourable inherited variations; these historical explanations must not be confused with the modern genetic account of evolutionary change.
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- A. Polymorphism
- B. Gene linkage
- C. Specialization
- D. Replication
Explanation: The correct answer is Specialization. Specialization refers to how organisms adapt particular traits to perform specific functions or to…
Correct answer: Specialization- A. Wing of an insect, wing of a bird
- B. Leg of a dog, leg of a spider
- C. The arm of a human, wing of a bird
- D. All of these options are correct
Explanation: The organs which have the anatomically same structure but are different in functions are called homologous organs.
Correct answer: The arm of a human, wing of a bird- A. Recessive alleles eventually disappear in large populations.
- B. Expected frequencies of alleles are impossible to predict mathematically.
- C. Dominant alleles become more prevalent in large populations.
- D. When there is a large population, the mechanism of inheritance does not change allele frequencies.
Explanation: The Hardy-Weinberg principle serves as a model for understanding how allele frequencies remain constant over generations in the absence of…
Correct answer: When there is a large population, the mechanism of inheritance does not change allele frequencies.- A. Mutation
- B. Selection
- C. Non-random mating
- D. Genetic drift
Explanation: The change in frequency of an allele at a locus that occurs by chance is called genetic drift.
Correct answer: Genetic drift- A. Cyanobacteria
- B. Chlamydomonas
- C. Paramecium
- D. Spirochetes
Explanation: Flagella are thought to have evolved through the endosymbiotic relationship where certain bacteria, like spirochetes, were incorporated…
Correct answer: Spirochetes- A. Lamarck
- B. Aristotle
- C. Wallace
- D. Darwin
Explanation: Jean Baptiste Lamarck was one of the first scientists to propose a coherent theory of evolution, known as Lamarckism, which posited that…
Correct answer: Lamarck- A. Homozygous
- B. Heterozygous
- C. Genetic diversity
- D. Genetic linkage
Explanation: Inbreeding increases the frequency of homozygous genotypes because mating between related individuals often results in offspring that have…
Correct answer: Homozygous- A. No natural selection
- B. No net migration of individuals into or out of the population
- C. Random mating
- D. Small population
Explanation: The Hardy-Weinberg principle states that allele frequencies in a large, randomly mating population remain constant, provided that no…
Correct answer: Small population- A. A trait that enhances an organism's adaptive success in its environment
- B. A structure inherited from a common ancestor that has adapted to serve different functions
- C. A modification in an organism's genetic material
- D. A structure that has lost its original function but is still present
Explanation: Option D is correct because a vestigial trait is a remnant of a structure that was functional in a species' ancestors but has since lost…
Correct answer: A structure that has lost its original function but is still present- A. Acquired traits can be passed on to offspring
- B. Living forms become perfect with time
- C. Nervous fluids are passed on from generation to generation
- D. Evolution is related to changes in adaptation to the environment
Explanation: The correct answer is D. Lamarck acknowledged that evolution involves adaptive changes to the environment, a concept that remains central…
Correct answer: Evolution is related to changes in adaptation to the environment- A. Dmitri Ivanovsky
- B. Dmitry Anuchin
- C. Nikolay Shatsky
- D. Alexander Oparin
Explanation: Alexander Oparin is credited with the primordial soup hypothesis, suggesting that life on Earth originated from a series of chemical…
Correct answer: Alexander Oparin- A. Taxonomic
- B. Phylogenetic
- C. Homologous
- D. Analogous
Explanation: Option D is correct since bird wings and insect wings are 'analogous' structures as both of these species have wings that they use for…
Correct answer: Analogous- A. Inheritance of acquired characteristics
- B. Theory of genetic change
- C. Both A and B
- D. None of these
Explanation: The theory of genetic change is false because he implies that all organisms would gradually become complex, and simple organisms disappear.
Correct answer: Theory of genetic change- A. Hershey Chase experiment.
- B. Geiger Marsden experiment.
- C. Schiehallion experiment.
- D. Miller-Urey experiment.
Explanation: The correct answer is the Miller-Urey experiment, which was designed to mimic the early Earth's atmosphere using a mixture of gases and…
Correct answer: Miller-Urey experiment.- A. The Origin Of Species By Natural Selection
- B. The Origin Of Species
- C. The Evolution Of Species
- D. The Evolution Of Species By Means Of Natural Selection
Explanation: The Origin of Species" is a book written by Charles Darwin and published in 1859.
Correct answer: The Origin Of Species436. The process that has transformed life on earth from its earliest forms to the vast diversity is:
- A. Mutation
- B. Evolution
- C. Migration
- D. Genetic drift
Explanation: The correct answer is Evolution. It is the comprehensive process by which species of organisms develop from earlier forms through changes…
Correct answer: Evolution- A. Artificial selection
- B. Founder effect
- C. Bottleneck effect
- D. Both a and b
Explanation: The correct answer is the bottleneck effect. This occurs when an event drastically reduces a population's size, resulting in a loss of…
Correct answer: Bottleneck effect- A. Genetic drift
- B. Diversity
- C. Linkage
- D. All of these
Explanation: Genetic drift is the correct answer, as it describes the random changes in allele frequencies that occur in a population due to chance…
Correct answer: Genetic drift- A. Decreased
- B. Increased
- C. Remains the same
- D. Becomes zero
Explanation: Option B is correct as less genetic diversity is the raw material of evolution.
Correct answer: Increased- A. Homozygosity
- B. Heterozygosity
- C. Gene linkage
- D. Gene pool
Explanation: The correct answer is option 'B', 'heterozygosity'. Outbreeding increases heterozygosity by encouraging the mixing of different alleles…
Correct answer: Heterozygosity