Master NEET Zoology with topic-wise questions. Tailored for NEET students, these questions strengthen your Biology preparation.
Which of the following combinations of reproductive strategies is LEAST likely to be observed in a single organism?
Binary fission and budding
Fragmentation and regeneration
Fragmentation and parthenogenesis
Budding and gemmule formation
A researcher observes a unicellular organism reproducing asexually. The daughter cells are genetically identical except for a few minor variations. Which mechanism is MOST likely responsible for these variations?
Crossing over during mitosis
Independent assortment of chromosomes
Random mutations during DNA replication
Conjugation with another individual
Which of the following is a critical argument against the theory of panspermia related to the origin of life on Earth?
Meteorites have been found to contain organic molecules.
Life on Earth shares a common genetic code.
Microbial life has been found in extreme environments on Earth.
The harsh conditions of space, including radiation and extreme temperatures, would likely destroy any known life forms during interstellar travel.
The 'hot dilute soup' proposed by Haldane and Oparin as a crucial stage in the origin of life faced a major challenge. What was this primary obstacle?
The absence of a continuous source of energy.
The presence of an oxidizing atmosphere.
The lack of a mechanism to concentrate the organic molecules to facilitate polymerization.
The instability of amino acids at high temperatures.
Which observation MOST directly challenges the idea of a universally applicable “molecular clock” for dating evolutionary divergence?
Fossil evidence sometimes contradicts molecular clock estimates.
Mutation rates can be influenced by environmental factors.
Different genes evolve at different rates, even within the same lineage.
Horizontal gene transfer can introduce new genes into a lineage.
Darwin's finches on the Galapagos Islands exhibit diverse beak morphologies adapted to different food sources. Which of the following BEST describes the genetic mechanism underlying this diversification, assuming the ancestral finch population had limited beak variation?
Horizontal gene transfer from other bird species introduced new beak morphologies.
Hybridization between different finch species generated novel beak shapes.
Mutations in regulatory genes controlling beak development led to variations upon which natural selection acted.
Environmental factors directly induced heritable changes in beak structure.
The cichlid fishes of the African Great Lakes exemplify remarkable adaptive radiation. However, some lakes show far greater cichlid diversity than others. Which factor is MOST likely to explain this variation in diversity among lakes?
Uniform water temperature and oxygen levels throughout the lake
Absence of other competing fish species in the lake
Presence of diverse habitats and resources within the lake
Lower rates of predation on cichlids in some lakes
Adaptive radiation can be considered a macroevolutionary process. Which of the following provides the MOST direct evidence for adaptive radiation in the fossil record?
A gradual, linear progression of changes in a single lineage over a long period.
The discovery of transitional fossils showing intermediate forms between ancestral and descendant species.
A sudden appearance of many related species in a relatively short geological timeframe, often correlated with a new environment or resource.
The presence of homologous structures in distantly related organisms.
In a hypothetical plant species, the endosperm is diploid and the embryo is triploid. Which of the following most accurately describes the process leading to this unusual ploidy?
Diploid megaspore mother cell undergoes mitosis to form the embryo sac, and a diploid male gamete fuses with a haploid central cell.
Haploid megaspore mother cell undergoes meiosis to form the embryo sac, and a diploid male gamete fuses with a diploid central cell.
Triploid megaspore mother cell undergoes mitosis to form the embryo sac, and a haploid male gamete fuses with a diploid central cell.
Diploid megaspore mother cell undergoes meiosis to form the embryo sac, and two haploid male gametes fuse with a haploid central cell.
The 'Taung Child' fossil, discovered by Raymond Dart, is significant because it provided evidence for which of the following hypotheses regarding human evolution?
Large brain size was the primary driver of early hominin evolution.
Bipedalism preceded significant brain enlargement.
Tool use developed before bipedalism.
Early hominins originated in Asia.
