NEET-UG Biology · Class 12
Competing theories of how evolution works — NEET & JEE Questions
Competing theories of how evolution works is a topic in Evolution, a Class 12 Biology chapter of the NEET-UG syllabus. TestBudy holds 13 published NEET-UG questions on Competing theories of how evolution works, each with the marking scheme of the real paper. The ideas it examines include Lamarck's inheritance of acquired characters, Darwin's natural selection and fitness, De Vries' mutation theory and saltation.
- questions
- 13
- shown here
- 10
Five free tests with an account. Your score comes with the result; where you stand is Pro.
Key formulas and concepts
The ideas Competing theories of how evolution works is examined on, as they are tagged in the syllabus tree.
- Lamarck's inheritance of acquired characters
- Darwin's natural selection and fitness
- De Vries' mutation theory and saltation
- What the modern synthesis added
Competing theories of how evolution works MCQs with solutions
10 of the 13 published questions on this topic, exactly as they appear in a test. Answers and worked solutions come with your result rather than on this page.
The mechanism emphasised by Darwin for differential survival and reproduction:
- A. genetic drift only
- B. use and disuse only
- C. natural selection
- D. mutation pressure alone
The modern theory combining natural selection with genetics and population processes:
- A. synthetic theory of evolution
- B. special creation
- C. orthogenesis only
- D. catastrophism
Darwin's theory of natural selection differs from Lamarck's theory mainly because Darwin emphasised
- A. selection among heritable variants rather than inheritance of acquired characters
- B. use and disuse as the sole source of inherited change
- C. direct environmental creation of adaptive traits in each individual
- D. absence of variation in populations
Lamarck's idea of inheritance of acquired characters proposes that
- A. changes acquired during an organism's lifetime can be passed to offspring
- B. only DNA mutations are inherited
- C. natural selection never acts
- D. all species are genetically identical
The modern synthetic theory of evolution combines natural selection with
- A. Mendelian genetics, mutation, recombination and population genetics
- B. inheritance of every acquired trait
- C. spontaneous generation
- D. absence of genetic variation
A population contains short- and long-necked individuals before a drought. If long-necked individuals leave more offspring because they reach food better, this supports
- A. natural selection
- B. inheritance of acquired neck stretching
- C. spontaneous generation
- D. use and disuse without heritable variation
A bodybuilder develops large muscles through training. Which prediction is most consistent with modern evolutionary theory?
- A. The acquired muscle enlargement is not automatically inherited by offspring
- B. The enlarged muscles must be inherited genetically
- C. Exercise creates the same mutation in every gamete
- D. Natural selection requires all acquired traits to be inherited
A new heritable mutation increases survival in a particular environment and rises in frequency over generations. Which framework best explains this?
- A. Mutation supplies variation and natural selection changes its frequency
- B. Use and disuse alone
- C. Inheritance of an acquired non-genetic trait
- D. No evolutionary mechanism is involved
Which observation would most strongly contradict strict inheritance of acquired characters?
- A. Repeated somatic modifications in parents are not transmitted to offspring without genetic change
- B. Heritable variants differ in reproductive success
- C. Mutations occur in DNA
- D. Populations contain genetic variation
Why was Mendelian genetics important to the modern synthesis?
- A. It provided a mechanism for particulate inheritance that preserves genetic variation across generations
- B. It proved all acquired traits are inherited
- C. It eliminated mutation from evolutionary theory
- D. It showed blending inheritance is always correct
Common mistakes in Competing theories of how evolution works
Recorded against questions in this topic that are not shown above, so none of these points at an answer you can see on this page.
- Attributes every evolutionary change to adaptive natural selection.
- Treats natural selection as the process that intentionally creates useful variants.
- Uses the word 'evolution' as if all proposed mechanisms are identical.
Practise this chapter
Reading a question and answering it under a clock are different things. A chapter-length test measures whether the topic went in.