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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814 questions · page 4 of 41

  • A. Natural selection
  • B. Genetic mutation
  • C. Survival of the fittest
  • D. Stretching of necks over generations

Explanation: In Lamarck's account each giraffe stretched to reach higher leaves, its neck lengthened a little during its own life, and that gain was…

Correct answer: Stretching of necks over generations
  • A. Static
  • B. Dynamic
  • C. May be static or dynamic
  • D. None of these

Explanation: A community is a collection of populations living together and interacting in an area, and its species composition and population sizes…

Correct answer: Dynamic
  • A. It is predictive
  • B. It has explanatory power
  • C. It discourages suggestion of different hypotheses
  • D. None of these

Explanation: A productive scientific theory makes predictions, explains observations and stimulates new questions and hypotheses for testing.

Correct answer: It discourages suggestion of different hypotheses
  • A. Scientific law
  • B. Theory
  • C. Data
  • D. Deduction

Explanation: A scientific theory is a well-supported explanatory framework built from hypotheses that have survived many tests and observations.

Correct answer: Theory
  • A. Experimental inquiry
  • B. Esthetic preference
  • C. Philosophical ideas
  • D. Imaginations

Explanation: Biological science relies on experimental inquiry, in which observations lead to hypotheses that are tested through controlled evidence…

Correct answer: Experimental inquiry
  • A. Biome
  • B. Phyletic lineage
  • C. Community
  • D. Population

Explanation: A phyletic lineage is a continuous evolutionary sequence in which each species is considered to have descended from the species…

Correct answer: Phyletic lineage
  • A. Older sediment layers have equal amount of these radioactive isotopes as that of the young ones
  • B. Older sediment layers have less amount of these radioactive isotopes as that of the young ones.
  • C. Older sediment layers have greater amount of these radioactive isotopes as that of the young ones.
  • D. Older sediment layers did not have these radioactive isotopes

Explanation: Radioactive parent isotopes decay with time, so an older rock generally contains less of the original radioactive isotope than a younger…

Correct answer: Older sediment layers have less amount of these radioactive isotopes as that of the young ones.
  • A. Environmental biologist
  • B. Paleontologist
  • C. Marine biologist
  • D. Social biologist

Explanation: Paleontologists study fossils and the rock layers in which they occur, allowing them to identify which organisms lived during different…

Correct answer: Paleontologist
  • A. Population
  • B. Community
  • C. Biome
  • D. Habitat

Explanation: A biome is a large regional community characterized mainly by its climate and the organisms adapted to that climate, such as a desert or…

Correct answer: Biome
  • A. Population
  • B. Community
  • C. Biome
  • D. Habitat

Explanation: A community consists of populations of different species living and interacting in the same habitat.

Correct answer: Community
  • A. Community
  • B. Population
  • C. Ecosystem
  • D. Biome

Explanation: A population is made up of organisms of the same species living in the same geographical area at the same time.

Correct answer: Population
  • A. Environmental biology
  • B. Social biology
  • C. Human biology
  • D. Both b and c

Explanation: Social biology studies how human beings behave in groups and how communal life is organized within different environments.

Correct answer: Social biology
  • A. Environmental Biology
  • B. Historical biology
  • C. Palaeontology
  • D. Social biology

Explanation: Palaeontology is the study of fossils, which preserves evidence about organisms that lived in the geological past and helps reconstruct…

Correct answer: Palaeontology
  • A. Accumulated Data
  • B. Observation
  • C. Hypothesis
  • D. Conclusion

Explanation: A hypothesis is a tentative, testable explanation proposed from observations and available evidence, so it is often described at an…

Correct answer: Hypothesis
  • A. Hypothesis ->Accumulated data -> observation & experimentation -> conclusion
  • B. New data -> Conclusion -> Accumulated data -> Observation & experimentation
  • C. Accumulated data - New data - Observation & experimentation - Hypothesis -> Conclusion
  • D. Accumulated data -> Hypothesis -> Observation & experimentation -> New data -> Conclusion

Explanation: A scientific investigation generally begins with accumulated observations or data, followed by a hypothesis.

Correct answer: Accumulated data -> Hypothesis -> Observation & experimentation -> New data -> Conclusion
  • A. Species
  • B. Community
  • C. Ecosystem
  • D. Population

Explanation: A population consists of members of the same species living in the same geographical area at the same time.

Correct answer: Population
  • A. Biosphere
  • B. Ecosystem
  • C. Population
  • D. Species

Explanation: A species is a group of similar organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring.

Correct answer: Species
  • A. Biosphere
  • B. Community
  • C. Population System
  • D. Ecosystem
  • E. Species

Explanation: A community consists of populations of different species living and interacting in the same area.

Correct answer: Community
  • A. Fungi
  • B. Prokaryotes
  • C. protists
  • D. Piantae

Explanation: Protoctista, commonly called Protista, is a kingdom containing mostly unicellular eukaryotic organisms such as Amoeba, Paramecium and many…

Correct answer: protists
  • A. Latin
  • B. English
  • C. Greek
  • D. French

Explanation: The term biology comes from Greek roots: bios means life and logos means study or knowledge.

Correct answer: Greek