Biology

Heredity and Evolution

Question:

Define ‘evolution’. Describe Darwin’s theory of evolution.

Answer:

Evolution is the sequence of gradual changes which take place in the primitive organisms over millions of years and new species are produced. Since, the evolution is of the living organisms, so it is called ‘Organic Evolution’.
Darwin’s theory of Evolution: Charles Robert Darwin gave the theory of evolution in his famous book, ‘The Origin of Species’.  The theory of evolution proposed by Darwin is known as ‘The Theory of Natural Selection’. It is also called ‘Darwinism’.
According to Darwin’s theory of evolution:

  1. There is natural variation within any population and some individuals have more favourable variations than others.
  2. Population remains fairly constant even though all species produce a large number of off springs.
  3. This is due to ‘competition’ or struggle for existence between same and different species.
  4. The struggle for survival within population eliminates the unfit individuals and those with ‘favourable variations’ survive and pass on these variations to their progeny to continue. This is called natural selection.
  5. The favourable variations are accumulated over a long time period leading to the origin of a new species.
previuos
next

Heredity and Evolution

Q 1.

Name the scientist who gave the theory of evolution.

Q 2.

Mention three important features of fossils which help in the study of evolution.

Q 3.

Give an example of body characteristics used to determine how close two species are in terms of evolution and explain it. [All India]

Q 4.

(a) If a normal human cell has 46 chromosomes, how many chromosomes will be there in a human (;) sperm cell, and (ii) zygote ?
(b) What sizes of plants are produced if both parents have genes Tt ?

Q 5.

Name two organisms which are now extinct and studied from their fossils.

Q 6.

Match the terms given in column I with those given in column II :
lakhmir-singh-biology-class-10-solutions-heredity-and-evolution-1

Q 7.

a) Name the scientist who gave the theory of origin of life on earth. What is this theory ?
(b) How are those species which are now ‘extinct’ studied ?

Q 8.

Describe the different types of chromosomes.

Q 9.

How are fossils formed? Describe, in brief, two methods of determining the age of fossils. [All India]

Q 10.

Name the first scientist who studied the inheritance of traits from one generation to the next.

Q 11.

(a) What is the genotype of dwarf plants which always produced dwarf offspring ?
(b) What is the genotype of tall plants which always produced tall offspring ?
(c) What is the genotype of

  1.  dwarf plants, and
  2.  tall plants, whose parental cross always produces tall offspring ?

Q 12.

Where did life originate on the earth ?

Q 13.

Give reasons why acquired characters are not inherited.

Q 14.

Will geographical isolation be a major factor in the speciation of an organism that reproduces asexually ? Why or why not ?

Q 15.

Only variations that confer an advantage to an individual organism will survive in a population. Do you agree with this statement ? Why or why not ?

Q 16.

What is a sex chromosome?

Q 17.

Define variation in relation to a species. Why is variation beneficial to the species? [Delhi]

Q 18.

How is the equal genetic contribution of male and female parents ensured in the progeny? [Delhi]

Q 19.

Explain with examples how the following are evidences in favour of evolution in organisms.  (i) Homologous organs (ii) Analogous organs (iii) Fossils [Delhi]

Q 20.

If the trait A exists in 10% of a population of an asexually reproducing species and a trait B exists in 60% of the same population, which trait is likely to have arisen earlier ?

Q 21.

What are the four blood groups in humans ?

Q 22.

A woman has only daughters. Analyse the situation genetically and provide a suitable explanation.

Q 23.

What are fossils ? What do they tell us about the process of evolution ?

Q 24.

What is heredity?

Q 25.

What do you understand by the double helical structure of DNA? Who proposed this structure?

Q 26.

How do homologous organs provide evidence in support of evolution?

Q 27.

What are the chromosomes XY and XX known as ?

Q 28.

A new born child has an XY pair of chromosmes. Will it be a baby boy or a baby girl ?

Q 29.

The gene for red hair is recessive to the gene for black hair. What will be the hair colour of a person if he inherits a gene for red hair from his mother and a gene for black hair from his father ?

Q 30.

(a) What will you get in the F1 and F2 generations in the following cross ?
Pure tall pea plant x Pure dwarf pea plant
(b) Is it an example of monohybrid cross or dihybrid cross ?

Q 31.

Give the contrasting traits of the following characters in pea plant and mention which is dominant and which is recessive :
(a) Yellow seed (b) Round seed

Q 32.

Out of the wing of a bird, wing of an insect and the wing of a bat :
(a) which two are homologous organs ?
(b) which two are analogous organs ?

Q 33.

Fill in the following blanks with suitable words :Fill in the following blanks with suitable words :
(a) The human forelimb and bat’s forelimb are an example of……………………organs whereas an insect’s wing and a bat’s wing are an example of…………………organs.
(b) The evolution of eye is an example of evolution by…………………
(c) The scientific name of all human beings is……………………..
(d) Broccoli has evolved from……………..by the process of artificial selection.
(e) The theory of natural selection for evolution was proposed by………………………

Q 34.

Out of bacteria, spider, fish and chimpanzee, which organism has a better body design in evolutionary terms ? Give reason for your answer.

Q 35.

(a) Define ‘speciation’. Explain how speciation occurs.
(b) Will geographical isolation be a major factor in the speciation of a self-pollinating plant species ? Give reason for your answer.

Q 36.

How does the creation of variations in a species promote survival ?

Q 37.

In evolutionary terms, can we say which among bacteria, spiders, fish and chimpanzees have a ‘better body design’ why or why not ?

Q 38.

Define a gene.

Q 39.

The human beings who look so different from each other in terms of colour, size and looks are said to belong to the same species. Why? Justify your answer. [All India(C)]

Q 40.

What is meant by the term speciation? List four factors which could lead to speciation. [Delhi]

Q 41.

(a)What is meant by ‘heredity’ ? What are the units of heredity.
(b) State Mendel’s first law of inheritance.

Q 42.

(a) What are genes ? Where are they located in our body ?(a) What are genes ? Where are they located in our body ?
(b) What is meant by dominant genes and recessive genes ? Give one example of each.
(c) Explain how, characteristics (or traits) are inherited through genes.

Q 43.

State whether the following statement is true or false :
Human beings have evolved from chimpanzees.

Q 44.

Name an animal having rudimentary eyes.

Q 45.

The forelimbs of a frog, a bird and a man show the same basic design (or basic structure) of bones. What name is given to such organs ?

Q 46.

Bacteria have a simpler body plan when compared with human beings. Does it mean that human beings are more evolved than bacteria ? Explain your answer.

Q 47.

Do genetic combination of mothers play a significant role in determining the sex of new born?

Q 48.

Why are the small numbers of surviving tigers a cause of worry from the point of view of genetics ?

Q 49.

Give an example of characteristics being used to determine how close two species am in evolutionary terms ?

Q 50.

How are the areas of study – evolution and classification inteilinked?