Biology X : Evolution Q & A

NCERT INTEXT QUESTIONS Q1. If a 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? Ans Trait B. To explain the reason, it is mentioned that there occurs no reshuffling of traits in asexually reproducing individuals of a population. Appearance of very few new traits in the population is due to small inaccuracies during DNA copying. These very few new traits will be in very small proportion than the traits already present. Thus, trait B which exists in 60% of population must have arisen earlier than trait A which occurs only in 10% of the population. Q2. How does the creation of variations in a species ensure survival? Ans Variations in a species arise either due to errors in DNA copying or during sexual reproduction. Force of natural selection selects individuals with useful variations in the prevailing environment so as to ensure their survival. The individuals with useful variations then increase in numbers trough differential reproduction in the population. Q3. How do Mendel experiments show that traits may be dominant or recessive? Ans When Mendel cross pollinated a pure male tall pea plant with pure female dwarf pea plant, he got only tall plants in F1 generation. When F1 tall plants were self pollinated, Mendel got both tall and dwarf plants in F2 generation in approximately 3 : 1 ratio. The trait of dwarfness was present in F 1 generation but it was not expressed and only trait of tallness was expressed. The character which gets expressed in the presence of its contrasting form is termed dominant trait. The trait which remains unexpressed in the presence of its contrasting form is termed recessive trait. Mendel called tall character as dominant and dwarf character as recessive. Q4. How do Mendels experiments show that traits are inherited independently?

Ans Mendel discovered that when crossing white flower and purple flower plants, the result is not a blend. Rather than being a mix of the two, the offspring was purple flowered. He then conceived the idea of heredity units, which he called "factors", one of which is a recessive characteristic and the other dominant. Mendel said that factors, later called genes, normally occur in pairs in ordinary body cells, yet segregate during the formation of sex cells. Each member of the pair becomes part of the separate sex cell. The dominant gene, such as the purple flower in Mendel's plants, will hide the recessive gene, the white flower. After Mendel self-fertilized the F1 generation and obtained the 3:1 ratio, he correctly theorized that genes can be paired in three different ways for each trait: AA, aa, and Aa. The capital "A" represents the dominant factor and lowercase "a" represents the recessive. (The last combination listed above, Aa, will occur roughly twice as often as each of the other two, as it can be made in two different ways, Aa or aA.) Mendel stated that each individual has two factors for each trait, one from each parent. The two factors may or may not contain the same information. If the two factors are identical, the individual is called homozygous for the trait. If the two factors have different information, the individual is called heterozygous. The alternative forms of a factor are called alleles. The genotype of an individual is made up of the many allele it possesses. An individual's physical appearance, or phenotype, is determined by its alleles as well as by its environment. An individual possesses two alleles for each trait; one allele is given by the female parent and the other by the male parent. They are passed on when an individual matures and produces gametes: egg and sperm. When gametes form, the paired alleles separate randomly so that each gamete receives a copy of one of the two alleles. The presence of an allele doesn't promise that the trait will be expressed in the individual that

By SK Chaudhary (9530019282) B-4/10 Patel Nagar Bikaner

SCIENCE X NOTES

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Biology X : Evolution Q & A

possessesit. In heterozygous individuals the only allele that is expressed is the dominant. The recessive allele is present but its expression is hidden. Q5. A man with blood group A marries a woman with blood group O and their daughter has blood group O. Is this information enough to tell you which of the traits blood group A or O is dominant? Why or why not? Ans No. The information provided is not enough to tell us whether the trait of blood group A or blood group O is dominant. Either can be possible because each individual carries two alleles. Recessive trait will appear only when the two alleles are similar. In this case, there are two possibilities. Ist Possibility Blood group A is dominant and blood group O is recessive. The blood group O in daughter can appear only when both the recessive and alleles occur together in mother and father has one alleles of A and other of O blood group. IInd Possibility Blood group O is dominant and blood group A is recessive. In this possibility, father must carry both alleles of blood group A while the mother may be having either both alleles of O blood group or one of A blood group and other of O blood group. Q6. How is the sex of the child determined in human beings? Ans In human beings, sex of the child is determined depending upon which kind of male gametes (sperm) fertilizes the female gamete (egg or ovum). If male gamete carrying X chromosome fertilizes the ovum, the sex of the child will be female. However, if male gamete carrying Y chromosome fertilizes the egg, the sex of the child will be male. Q7. What are the different ways in which individuals with a particular trait may increase in a population? Ans (i) Natural Selection (ii) Genetic Drift (iii) Abundance of food Q8. Why are traits acquired during the life time of an individual not inherited? Ans It is so because acquired characters involve changes in the non-reproductive tissues only and do not bring any change in the DNA. Any alteration in the DNA, in fact, is passed through germ cells to the next generation. Q9. Why are small numbers of surviving tigers a cause of worry from the point of view of genetics? Ans Tigers are surviving in limited numbers. If some natural calamity kills this small population of tigers, they will suddenly become extinct as per genetic drift phenomenon. Q10. What factors could lead to the rise of a new species? Ans (i) Genetic variations, (ii) Natural selection, (iii) Reproductive isolation Q11. Will geographical isolation be a major factor in the speciation of a self pollinating plant species? Why or why not? Ans Geographical isolation will not be a major factor for the speciation of a self-pollinating plant species because the pollination is occurring on the same plant and a natural barrier can occur between different organisms. Q12. Will geographical isolation be a major factor in the speciation of an organism that reproduce asexually? Why or why not? Ans Geographical isolation will not be a major factor for the speciation of an organism that reprocess asexually because, asexual reproduction involves single parent and a natural barrier can occur between different organisms. Q13. Give an example of characteristics being used to determine how close two species are in evolutionary terms?

By SK Chaudhary (9530019282) B-4/10 Patel Nagar Bikaner

SCIENCE X NOTES

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Biology X : Evolution Q & A

Ans A thorn of Bougainvillea plant and a tendril of Passiflora plant are homologous organs. Both these perform different functions but have similar basic structural designs, i.e., both are modified branches. During the course of evolution, these two species evolved from common ancestor having fundamental structural design that developed subsequently into thorn in one species and tendril in other species to perform different functions. Q14. Can the wing of a butterfly and the wind of a bat be considered homologous organs? Why or why not? Ans No. It is so because the wings of a butterfly (insect) and a wing of a bat (mammal) perform similar functions, i.e., they are used for flying in the air. However, they are very different in fundamental structure and embryonic origin. In other words, they are analogous organs. The superficial similarity of these organs is due to adaptation of flying rather than to inheritance from a common ancestor. Q15. What are fossils? What do they tell us about the process of evolution? Ans Fossils are the remains or impressions of the dead animals and plants that lived in the remote part. They are the direct evidences in support of organic evolution and help in determining evolutionary relationships between organisms. Q16. Why are human beings who look so different from each other in terms of size, colour and looks said to belong to the same species? Ans One of the strongest evidences for common descent comes from the study of gene sequences. Comparative sequence analysis examines the relationship between the DNA sequences of different species, producing several lines of evidence that confirm Darwin's original hypothesis of common descent. If the hypothesis of common descent is true, then species that share a common ancestor will have inherited that ancestor's DNA sequence. They will have inherited mutations unique to that ancestor. More closely related species will have a greater fraction of identical sequence and will have shared substitutions when compared to more distantly related species. The simplest and most powerful evidence is provided by phylogenetic reconstruction. Such reconstructions, especially when done using slowly evolving protein sequences, are often quite robust and can be used to reconstruct a great deal of the evolutionary history of modern organisms. These reconstructed phylogenies recapitulate the relationships established through morphological and biochemical studies. The most detailed reconstructions have been performed on the basis of the mitochondrial genomes shared by all eukaryotic organisms, which are short and easy to sequence; the broadest reconstructions have been performed either using the sequences of a few very ancient proteins or by using ribosomal RNA sequence. Phylogenetic relationships also extend to a wide variety of non-functional sequence elements, including repeats, transposons, pseudogenes, and mutations in protein-coding sequences that do not result in changes in amino-acid sequence. While a minority of these elements might later be found to harbor function, in aggregate they demonstrate that identity must be the product of common descent rather than common function. Q17. In evolutionary terms, can we say which among bacteria, spiders, fish and chimpanzees have a `better body design? Why or why not? Ans Bacteria have a `better body design because they can survive in extreme cold or hot environmental conditions.

By SK Chaudhary (9530019282) B-4/10 Patel Nagar Bikaner

SCIENCE X NOTES

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Biology X : Evolution Q & A

NCERT EXERCISE QUESTIONS Q1. A Mendelian experiment consisted of breeding tall pea plants bearing violet flowers with short pea plants bearing white flowers. The progeny all bore violet flowers but almost half of them were short. This suggested that the generic make-up of the tall plant can be depicted as (a) TTWW (b) TTWw (c) TtWW (d) TtWw Ans (c) Q2. (a) (c) Ans An example of homologous organ is our arm and a dogs fore-leg potato and runners of grass (d) (b) (d) our teeth and an elephants tusks all of the above

Q3. In evolutionary terms, we have more in common with (a) a Chinese school boy (b) a chimpanzee (c) a spider (d) a bacterium Ans (a) Q4. A study found that children with light-coloured eyes are likely to have parents with light coloured eyes. On this basis, can we say anything about whether the light eye colour traits is dominant or recessive? Why or why not? Ans No. From the given statement, we cannot say with certainty whether light eye colour is dominant or recessive. However, since both children and their parents have light eye colour, the possibility is that light eye colour is a recessive trait. Had the light eye colour been a dominant trait, the recessive dark eye colour might have appeared in some of the children. Q5. How are the areas of study-evolution and classification interlinked? Ans Classification refers to the arrangement of organisms into groups, sub-groups on the basis of similarities/dissimilarities and placing them in a hierarchy that reveals their relationships. Similarities or dissimilarities are determined on the basis of presence or absence of characteristics in the organisms. Characteristics of organisms refer to the details of external and internal appearance or behaviour that distinguish them from one another. They include ancestral and derived characteristics. These characteristics of organisms also form the basis for the classification of organisms. By identifying hierarchies of characteristics between species, we can work out the evolutionary relationships of the species that we see around us. Q6. Explain the terms analogous and homologous organs with examples? Ans Analogous Organs The organs which are quite different in fundamental structure and embryonic origin but perform same function and may superficially look alike in entirely different species are called analogous organs. Homologous organs The organs which perform different functions in different species but have similar basic structure and similar embryonic origin are called homologous organs. Q7. Outline a project which aims to find the dominant coat colour in dogs? Ans Can be left out from the chapter as it is a question of discussion forum and need not to be attempted. Q8. Explain the importance of fossils in deciding evolutionary relationships? Ans Enormous types of organisms that exist on the earth at present and also the fossils have large number of common features which provide evidences in favour of organic evolution and help us in tracing evolutionary relationships. All these evidences support the view that the present day diverse forms of living organisms have evolved from common ancestors. Q9. What evidence do we have for the origin of life from inanimate matter? Ans Miller and Urey experiment.

By SK Chaudhary (9530019282) B-4/10 Patel Nagar Bikaner

SCIENCE X NOTES

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Biology X : Evolution Q & A

In 1952, in the Miller-Urey experiment, a mixture of water, hydrogen, methane, and ammonia was cycled through an apparatus that delivered electrical sparks to the mixture. After one week, it was found that about 10% to 15% of the carbon in the system was now in the form of organic compounds, including amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins. The underlying hypothesis held by Oparin and Haldane was that conditions on the primeval Earth favoured chemical reactions that synthesized organic compounds from inorganic precursors. A recent reanalysis of the saved vials containing the original extracts that resulted in the Miller and Urey experiments, using current and more advanced analytical equipment and technology, has uncovered more biochemicals than originally discovered in the 1950s. One of the more important findings was 23 amino acids, far more than five originally discovered. Q10. Explain how sexual reproduction gives rise to more viable variations than asexual reproduction. How does this affect the evolution of those organisms that reproduce sexually? Ans Variations do appear during reproduction whether organisms multiply asexually or sexually. Heredity involves inheritance of basic body design as well as subtle changes in it from one generation to the next generation. Asexual reproduction involves single parent. When a single individual reproduces asexually, the resultant two individuals again after sometime reproduce to form four individuals. In this way, large number of individuals are formed after many generations.Sexual reproduction Q11. How is the equal genetic contribution of male and female parents ensured in the progeny? Ans Q12. 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? Ans No. It is so because certain variations may not give any advantage to an individual organism in particular environmental conditions. These still persist and may confer an advantage to the individual in changed environmental conditions.

By SK Chaudhary (9530019282) B-4/10 Patel Nagar Bikaner

SCIENCE X NOTES

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