Tag: darwinism or theories of natural selection

Questions Related to darwinism or theories of natural selection

The Galapagos islands are associated with the visit of

  1. Jean Lamarck

  2. Charles Darwin

  3. Gregor Mendel

  4. Alfred Wallace


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

Charles Darwin visited Galapagos islands, the chain of 22 islands located in the Pacific Ocean on the west coast of South America, during his voyage on HMS Beagle. Since Galapagos islands were once connected with South America mainland, many birds of the island resembled those of mainland. This observation laid the foundation of his concept of adaptive radiation and his theory of evolution. Thus, the correct answer is option B.

What did Charles Darwin publish in 1859?

  1. Origin of Species by natural selection

  2. Species Plantarum

  3. Philosophie Zoologique

  4. De Naturien Familien


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Darwin proposed the theory of natural selection to explain the process of evolution which was published in the book entitled The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, 1859. Linnaeus is considered as the father of taxonomy and was first to use the binomial nomenclature for organisms in his book “Species Plantarum, 1753” in which he gave a generic name to each species. Philosophie Zoologique was published by Lamarck in 1809 in which he proposed his theory of evolution, Lamarckism.Thus, the correct answer is option A.

Who came up with the idea of evolution?

  1. Mendel

  2. Morgan

  3. Charles Darwin

  4. None of these


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

Charles Darwin came up with the idea of evolution of species with natural selection. Therefore, (c) is the correct answer.

Who described role of natural selection in speciation?

  1. Orator F. Cook

  2. Charles Robert Darwin

  3. J.B.S Haldane

  4. None of these


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

Speciation is the term used for the development of new species by changes in population. Charles Darwin was the first to describe role of natural selection in speciation. Therefore, (b) is the correct answer.

Whose bicentenary is the year 2009?

  1. Darwin

  2. Edward Jenner

  3. Stanley Miller

  4. T.H. Morgan


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Charles Darwin was born in year 1809. His bicentenary year was 2009.

A scientist who gave a theory very similar to that given by Darwin was

  1. Malthus

  2. Wallace

  3. Goldstein

  4. Mendel


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace worked on a diversity of plants and animals of Malay Archipelago, reached at the same conclusion as Darwin. Wallace's book, "Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection", was published in 1870.

The 'Descent of Man' was published by

  1. Charles Darwin in 1871

  2. Charles Darwin in 1859

  3. Hugo de Vries in 1901

  4. Lamarck in 1809


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

'Descent of man' was another publication by Darwin after he published 'Origin of species' in 1859.

The term 'Phyletic evolution' was proposed by

  1. Lamarck

  2. Mayer

  3. Darwin

  4. None of the above


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

Phyletic evolution actually refers to slow gradual evolution. It is a theory stating that, evolutionary change happens slowly, steadily and gradually in an attempt of the species to continue to adapt to changes in the environment, until they gradually become new species.

Modern evolutionary theory consists of the concepts of Darwin modified by knowledge concerning

  1. Population statistics

  2. Mendel's law

  3. The idea of the survival of the fittest

  4. Competition


Correct Option: C
Explanation:
  • Charles Darwin proposed the theory of natural selection. It emphasized that in a population, variations result based on different combinations of traits and the carrying capacity of the environment is limited. 
  • Hence there cannot be a guarantee of breeding and reproduction probability. In such a situation nature selects the best-adapted organisms for survival with better traits than the other.  
  • Such an organism will have a greater chance of becoming parents for the next generation because of its superior characters. 
  • So there is a struggle among the organisms for existence in which only the fittest organism survives and others perish. This concept is called as the survival of the fittest. Thus the correct answer is option C. 

Darwin correlated variations observed in nature to variations found in

  1. Human society

  2. Breeding domesticated animals

  3. Breeding crop plants

  4. Caged animals


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

Darwin notes that there is greater variation observed in domesticated species than would be seen in the wild. Darwin admits that the laws governing inheritance are not yet fully understood, why some traits might skip generations while others only appear in one sex or the other. He reviews a number of domesticated species, in particular various breeds of dogs where it remains unclear if they derive from a single parent species or several. After the different types of animals he has focused his study on domestic pigeons. So, the correct answer is "Breeding domesticated animals".