Evolutionary Biology MCQs with Answers

adminJune 13, 2024Last Updated: March 16, 2025

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Evolutionary Biology MCQs examine your understanding of the mechanisms and patterns of evolutionary change in organisms across time. Evolutionary Biology Quiz contains questions on natural selection, genetic drift, speciation, phylogenetics, and adaptations in evolutionary biology. Understand major concepts such as the theory of evolution, common ancestry, molecular evolution, and fossil records of evolutionary change. These Evolutionary Biology MCQs assist students, researchers, and biology experts in measuring their knowledge regarding how species evolve and diversify. Attempt this free Evolutionary Biology quiz to reinforce your concepts and learn key subjects in genetics, paleontology, and comparative biology.

Evolutionary biology is a scientific study that focuses on the processes and mechanisms associated with life diversity and adaptation on earth. The study field is centered on how species change with time due to mechanisms of natural selection, genetic drift, or gene flow which give rise to new species and the extinction of others.

The most crucial concept that underlines evolutionary biology was first proposed by Charles Darwin as natural selection. Natural selection hypothesizes that the individuals having traits which are better suited to their environment will survive and reproduce more, thus passing those advantageous traits to their offspring. In doing so, through some time, adaptation of species to their environments and the evolution of new species occur.

Evolutionary biology relies on many techniques and technologies in its research, such as comparative anatomy-this is the comparison of similarities and differences in the structure of various organisms-and molecular biology-an organism’s genetic material to demonstrate evolutionary relationships. The fossil record essentially provides historical evidence of past forms of life and evolutionary transitions, while phylogenetics makes use of a set of genetic data to reconstruct the patterns of evolutionary change which underlie relationships between species.

Evolutive biology is the study of the evolutionary process and its influence on behavior, development, and disease. If understood, these fields explain a great deal of complexity in life and shape ecology, conservation biology, and medicine.

Such study leads to greater understanding in how life evolves and adapts, crucial for addressing the challenges in biodiversity loss, environmental change, and the impacts that the evolutionary process have on human health.

Evolutionary Biology Online Quiz

By presenting 3 options to choose from, Evolutionary Biology Quiz which cover a wide range of topics and levels of difficulty, making them adaptable to various learning objectives and preferences. You will have to read all the given answers of Evolutionary Biology Questions and Answers and click over the correct answer.

Test Name: Evolutionary Biology MCQ Quiz Practice
Type: Quiz Test
Total Questions: 40
Total Marks: 40
Time: 40 minutes

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Evolutionary Biology

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1 / 40

The theory proposing that species evolve over time through natural selection is attributed to ____.

Charles Darwin

Louis Pasteur

Gregor Mendel

2 / 40

The concept that describes how some traits are favored in mating, leading to their increase in frequency in a population is ____.

Artificial selection

Natural selection

Sexual selection

3 / 40

The type of natural selection where individuals with average traits have higher fitness is ____.

Directional selection

Disruptive selection

Stabilizing selection

4 / 40

The concept that states the Earth's geological processes in the past are similar to those observed today is ____.

Punctuated equilibrium

Catastrophism

Uniformitarianism

5 / 40

The evolutionary process where two unrelated species develop similar traits due to similar ecological roles is ____.

Parallel evolution

Divergent evolution

Convergent evolution

6 / 40

The process by which species evolve in response to changes in each other over time is ____.

Coevolution

Divergent evolution

Convergent evolution

7 / 40

Structures with similar functions in different organisms that are not due to common ancestry are ____.

Vestigial structures

Analogous structures

Homologous structures

8 / 40

Structures that have reduced or no function in one organism but have functional roles in related organisms are ____.

Homologous structures

Analogous structures

Vestigial structures

9 / 40

The scientist who proposed the theory of evolution through natural selection in 1858 with Darwin was ____.

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck

Alfred Russel Wallace

Thomas Huxley

10 / 40

The theory that genetic changes occur in small, gradual steps over long periods of time is ____.

Catastrophism

Punctuated equilibrium

Gradualism

11 / 40

The process by which different species evolve similar traits independently in response to similar environmental conditions is ____.

Coevolution

Convergent evolution

Divergent evolution

12 / 40

Which of the following is NOT a mechanism of evolutionary change?

Acclimatization

Mutation

Genetic drift

13 / 40

The process by which individuals with advantageous traits survive and reproduce more successfully is ____.

Sexual selection

Artificial selection

Natural selection

14 / 40

The study of how traits are passed from parents to offspring and the variation of those traits in populations is ____.

Genomics

Evolution

Genetics

15 / 40

The study of the genetic makeup of populations and how it changes over time is called ____.

Phylogenetics

Population genetics

Paleontology

16 / 40

The scientist who formulated the modern theory of evolution based on population genetics was ____.

Sewall Wright

J.B.S. Haldane

R.A. Fisher

17 / 40

The process by which new species arise from a single ancestral species is called ____.

Convergence

Speciation

Divergence

18 / 40

The process by which species adapt to different ecological niches and diversify into new forms is ____.

Adaptive radiation

Convergent evolution

Speciation

19 / 40

The scientific field that studies the origin and evolution of genes and genomes is ____.

Paleontology

Genomics

Genetics

20 / 40

The principle that states alleles frequencies in a population will remain constant unless one or more factors cause them to change is ____.

Mendelian genetics

Lamarckism

Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium

21 / 40

Anatomical structures that are similar in different species and have a common evolutionary origin are ____.

Homologous structures

Vestigial structures

Analogous structures

22 / 40

The process by which organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring is ____.

Artificial selection

Genetic drift

Natural selection

23 / 40

The study of the fossil record to understand the origin and diversification of life is ____.

Ecology

Paleontology

Genetics

24 / 40

The study of the similarities and differences in the structures of organisms due to common ancestry is ____.

Embryology

Molecular biology

Comparative anatomy

25 / 40

The term used to describe the genetic contribution of an individual to the next generation relative to the average for the population is ____.

Adaptation

Fitness

Variation

26 / 40

The genetic variation within a population that natural selection can act upon is ____.

Allele frequency

Genotype diversity

Phenotype diversity

27 / 40

The evolutionary principle where changes occur in bursts separated by periods of little change is ____.

Punctuated equilibrium

Catastrophism

Gradualism

28 / 40

The study of the distribution of species and ecosystems across space and time is ____.

Ecology

Biogeography

Genetics

29 / 40

The evolutionary process where two populations of the same species become reproductively isolated and diverge into separate species is ____.

Sympatric speciation

Allopatric speciation

Parapatric speciation

30 / 40

The process by which unrelated species evolve similar traits due to similar environmental pressures is called ____.

Divergent evolution

Adaptive radiation

Convergent evolution

31 / 40

The evolutionary process where species adapt to different ecological niches and diverge from a common ancestor is ____.

Speciation

Convergent evolution

Adaptive radiation

32 / 40

The idea that species change gradually over time rather than suddenly is known as ____.

Punctuated equilibrium

Lamarckism

Gradualism

33 / 40

The phenomenon where a small population's allele frequencies change due to random chance is ____.

Natural selection

Genetic drift

Gene flow

34 / 40

The accumulation of differences between populations that can lead to the formation of new species is ____.

Gene flow

Genetic drift

Genetic divergence

35 / 40

The scientist who proposed the theory of natural selection independently of Darwin was ____.

Thomas Malthus

Gregor Mendel

Alfred Russel Wallace

36 / 40

The concept that characteristics acquired during an organism's lifetime can be passed on to offspring is ____.

Darwinism

Mendelism

Lamarckism

37 / 40

The scientist who conducted experiments on natural selection using peppered moths was ____.

H.B.D. Kettlewell

Gregor Mendel

Charles Darwin

38 / 40

The branch of biology that reconstructs evolutionary relationships among organisms is called ____.

Paleontology

Biogeography

Phylogenetics

39 / 40

The process where the environment selects for or against particular traits is ____.

Artificial selection

Natural selection

Genetic drift

40 / 40

The concept that changes in Earth's crust during geological history have resulted from the action of continuous and uniform processes is ____.

Catastrophism

Punctuated equilibrium

Uniformitarianism

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adminJune 13, 2024Last Updated: March 16, 2025

0 7 2 minutes read