1.1 What is Living?
1. Which one of the following aspects is an exclusive
characteristic of living things?
(a) Isolated metabolic reactions occur in vitro
(b) Increase in mass from inside only
(c) Perception of events happening in the environment and their memory.
(d) Increase in mass by accumulation of material
both on surface as well as internally.
(Mains 2011)
2. The living organisms can be unexceptionally
distinguished from the non-living things on the
basis of their ability for
(a) interaction with the environment and progressive evolution
(b) reproduction
(c) growth and movement
(d) responsiveness to touch. (2007)
3. Biological organisation starts with
(a) cellular level
(b) organismic level
(c) atomic level
(d) submicroscopic molecular level. (2007)
1.2 Diversity in the Living World
4. Select the correctlywritten scientific name of Mango
which was first described by Carolus Linnaeus.
(a) Mangifera Indica
(b) Mangifera indica Car. Linn.
(c) Mangifera indica Linn.
(d) Mangifera indica (NEET 2019)
5. Which of the following is against the rules of ICBN?
(a) Hand written scientific names should be
underlined.
(b) Every species should have a generic name and a
specific epithet.
(c) Scientific names are in Latin and should be
italicized.
(d) Generic and specific names should be written
starting with small letters.
(Odisha NEET 2019)
6. Nomenclature is governed by certain universal
rules. Which one of the following is contrary to the
rules of nomenclature?
(a) The names are written in Latin and are italicised.
(b) When written by hand the names are to be
underlined.
(c) Biological names can bewritten in any language.
(d) The first word in a biological name represents
the genus name and the second is a specific
epithet.
(NEET-I 2016)
7. ICBN stands for
(a) International Code of Botanical Nomenclature
(b) International Congress of Biological Names
(c) Indian Code of Botanical Nomenclature
(d) Indian Congress of Biological Names (2007)
8. Biosystematics aims at
(a) the classification of organisms based on broad
morphological characters
(b) delimiting various taxa of organisms and
establishing their relationships
(c) the classification of organisms based on their
evolutionary history and establishing their phylogeny on the totality of various parameters
from all fields of studies
(d) identification and arrangement of organisms
on the basis of their cytological characteristics.
(2003)
9. The book ‘Genera Plantarum’ was written by
(a) Engler and Prantl
(b) Bentham and Hooker
(c) Bessey
(d) Hutchinson.
10. Linnaeus is credited with
(a) binomial nomenclature
(b) theory of biogenesis
(c) discovery of microscope
(d) discovery of blood circulation. (1993)
11. Linnaeus evolved a system of nomenclature called
(a) mononomial
(b) vernacular
(c) binomial
(d) polynomial.
(1990)
12. The term “New Systematics” was introducedby
(a) Bentham and Hooker
(b) Linnaeus
(c) Julian Huxley
(d) A.P. de Candolle. (1988)
1.3 Taxonomic Categories
13. Match column I with column II for housefly
classification and select the correct option using the codes given below.
Column I Column II
A. Family (i) Diptera
B. Order (ii) Arthropoda
C. Class (iii)Muscidae
D. Phylum (iv) Insecta
(a) A-(iii), B-(i), C-(iv), D-(ii)
(b) A-(iii), B-(ii), C-(iv), D-(i)
(c) A-(iv), B-(iii), C-(ii), D-(i)
(d) A-(iv), B-(ii), C-(i), D-(iii) (NEET-II 2016)
14. The common characteristics between tomato and
potato will be maximum at the level of their
(a) family
(b) order
(c) division
(d) genus.
(Karnataka NEET 2013)
15. Which one of the following organismsisscientifically
correctly named, correctly printed according to the
International Rules of Nomenclature and correctly described?
(a) Musca domestica - the common house lizard, a
reptile
(b) Plasmodium falciparum - a protozoan pathogen
causing the most serious type of malaria.
(c) Felis tigris - the Indian tiger, well protected in
Gir forests.
(d) E.coli - full name Entamoeba coli, a commonly
occurring bacterium in human intestine.
(Mains 2012)
16. Which one of the following animals is correctly
matched with its particular taxonomic category?
(a) Tiger - tigris, species
(b) Cuttlefish - mollusca, class
(c) Humans - primata, family
(d) Housefly - Musca, order (2011)
17. Species are considered as
(a) real basic units of classification
(b) the lowest units of classification
(c) artificial concept of human mind which cannot
be defined in absolute terms
(d) real units of classification devised by
taxonomists. (2003)
18. Which of the following is less general in characters
as compared to genus?
(a) Species
(b) Division
(c) Class
(d) Family (2001)
19. ‘Taxon’ is the unit of a group of
(a) order
(b) taxonomy
(c) species
(d) genes. (1996)
20. Sequence of taxonomic categories is
(a)class–phylum–tribe–order–family–genus–
species
(b)division–class–family–tribe–order–genus- species
(c)division–class–order–family–tribe–genus–
species.
(d)phylum–order–class–tribe–family–genus–
species. (1992)
21. The term phylum was given by
(a) Cuvier
(b) Haeckel
(c) Theophrastus
(d) Linnaeus. (1992)
22. A group of plants or animals with similar traits of
any rank is
(a) species
(b) genus
(c) order
(d) taxon.
(1992, 1991)
23. A taxon is
(a) a group of related families
(b) a group of related species
(c) a type of living organisms
(d) a taxonomic group of any ranking.
(1992, 1990)
24. Basic unit or smallest taxon of taxonomy/
classification is
(a) species
(b) kingdom
(c) family
(d) variety. (1990)
25. Static concept of species was put forward by
(a) de Candolle
(b) Linnaeus
(c) Theophrastus
(d) Darwin.
1.4 Taxonomical Aids
26. Match the items given in column I with those in
column II and select the correct option given below.
Column I Column II
A. Herbarium (i) It is a place having a
collection of preserved plants
and animals.
B. Key (ii) A list that enumerates
methodically all the species
found in an area with
brief description aiding
identification.
C. Museum (iii) Is a place where dried and
pressed plant specimens
mounted on sheets are kept.
D. Catalogue (iv) A booklet containing a
list of characters and their
alternates which are helpful
in identification of various
taxa.
A B C D
(a) (i) (iv) (iii) (ii)
(b) (iii) (ii) (i) (iv)
(c) (ii) (iv) (iii) (i)
(d) (iii) (iv) (i) (ii) (NEET 2018)
27. The label of a herbarium sheet does not carry
information on
(a) date of collection
(b) name of collector
(c) local names
(d) height of the plant.
(NEET-II 2016)
28. Which one of the following is not a correct
statement?
(a) A museum has collection of photographs of
plants and animals.
(b) Key is a taxonomic aid for identification of
specimens.
(c) Herbarium houses dried, pressed and preserved
plant specimens.
(d) Botanical gardens have collection of living
plants for reference.
(NEET 2013)
29. One of the most important functions of botanical
gardens is that
(a) they provide a beautiful area for recreation
(b) one can observe tropical plants there
(c) they allow ex situ conservation of germplasm
(d) they provide the natural habitat for wild life .(2005)
1. (c)
2. (d)
3. (d) : Molecular assemblies are large organised sets of molecular units that make up parts of organelles. For example, one common macromolecular assembly is the microtubule which is important in forming structure in the cell related to maintaining the cell structure or related to cell movement.The cell (plasma) membrane surrounds many organelles and the cell is a highly organised molecular assembly.
4. (c) : According to binomial nomenclature, the first word denoting the genus starts with a capital letter while the specific epithet starts with a small letter. E.g., scientific name of mango is Mangifera indica. Name of the author appears after the specific epithet, i.e., at the end of biological name and is written in an abbreviated form, e.g., Mangifera indica Linn. It indicates that this species was first described by Linnaeus.
5. (d) : According to International Code for Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN) the first word denoting the genus starts with a capital letter while the specific epithet starts with a small letter.
6. (c) : Biological names are derived either from Latin language or are latinised. This is because Latin language is a dead language and therefore it will not change in form or spellings with the passage of time.
7. (a) : The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN) is a set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names given to plant. The foundations of ICBN are
given in book written by C. Linnaeus named Philosophia
Botanica. It is independent of zoological nomenclature.
8. (c) : Biosystematics is the study of identification,
nomenclature, classification and relationships amongst
living beings. In other words, it is the study of diversity
of organisms, their comparative and evolutionary relationships based on comparative anatomy, ecology,
physiology, biochemistry and other fields.
9. (b) : Bentham and Hooker in their monumental
work Genera Plantarum (1862-1883) have provided
elaborate keys for the easy identification of 202 natural orders and genera.
10. (a) : Binomial nomenclature was first given by
C. Linnaeus (1735) in his book “Systema Naturae” and
later in “Speciel Plantarum” (1753). He used two latin
words for any organism, the first being generic name and
the second is specific name. The generic name begins
with capital letter and the species name with small letter.
11. (c) : Refer to answer 10..
12. (c) : The term “NewSystematics”was given by Julian
Huxley (1940). This classification takes into account
the cytological, morphological, genetical, anatomical, palynological and physiological characters.
13. (a)
14. (a) : Potato (Solanum tuberosum) and tomato
(Lycopersicum esculentum) both belong to Family
Solanaceae, which is commonly called as the “potato
family”. Many plants belonging to this family are sources of vegetables, fruits, etc.
15. (b) : Plasmodium falciparum is a protozoan parasite,
one of the species of Plasmodium that causes malaria in
humans. Being digenetic, its life cycle is complete in two
hosts — man and mosquito.
16. (a)
17. (a) : Species is a natural population or group of
natural populations of individuals which are genetically
distinct and reproductively isolated with similar essential
morphological traits. Species is also a genetically closed
system because its members do not interbreed with
members of other species.
18. (a) : A taxonomic hierarchy is the sequence of
arrangement of taxonomic categories in a descending
order during the classification of an organism. There
are seven obligate categories - kingdom, division , class,
order, family, genus and species. Species is the lowest
category while kingdom is the highest category. The
number of common characters is maximum in case of
organisms placed in the lowest category. Number of
common characters decreases with the rise in category.
Species are the smallest group of individuals which can
be recognized by ordinary methods as groups and which
are consistently and persistently different from other
groups because their characters are less general.
19. (b) : Taxon refers to all the categories in the
taxonomic hierarchy. It may be a kingdom, class, order,
family, genus or species. It is any level of grouping of
organisms. Each of these categories has been divided
further into intermediate categories like subkingdom,
subdivision, superclass, subgenus, subspecies, etc.
20. (c)
21. (b)
22. (d) : A taxon (plural taxa) or taxonomic unit, is a
name designating an organism or group of organisms. A
taxon is assigned a rank and can be placed at a particular
level in a systematic hierarchy reflecting evolutionary
relationships.
23. (d) : Refer to answer 22.
24. (a) : Basic unit or smallest taxon of taxonomy/
classification is species. Species is a group of individuals
that resemble one another in all essential morphological
and reproductive characters so that they are able to
interbreed freely and produce fertile offspring.
25. (b)
26. (d)
27. (d) : A herbarium is a collection of plants, which
have been dried, pressed, mounted on herbarium sheets,
identified and classified according to some approved
system of classification. The storage of herbarium
sheets forms a repository for future use. A printed label
(7 × 12 cm) giving the following information is fixed on
the lower, right corner of herbarium sheet:
(i) Scientific name of plant
(ii) Common/vernacular
name
(iii) Family
(iv) Locality
(v) Date of collection
(vi) Collection number
(vii) Name of collector
(viii) Plant characteristics (optional)
(ix) Name of
institution (optional).
28. (a) : Museums have collections of preserved plant
and animalspecimensforstudy and reference. Specimens
are preserved in the containers or jars in preservative
solutions. Plant and animal specimens may also be preserved as dry specimens. Insects are preserved in
insect boxes after collecting, killing and pinning. Larger
animals like birds and mammals are usually stuffed and preserved. Museums often have collections of skeletons
of animals too.
29. (c) : Ex situ conservation means “offsite
conservation”. It is the process of protecting endangered
species of plants and animals by removing it from an
unsafe or threatened habitat and placing it or part of
it under the care of humans. Botanical garden serve as
ex situ conservation of germplasm of different plants,
to maintain rare and endemic plant species and also
to provide recreation and knowledge about plants to a
common man.
