Diversity in the living World: MCQ Test

1. Who was known as 'The Darwin of the 20th century' and pioneered the currently accepted definition of a biological species?

• Carolus Linnaeus
• Ernst Mayr
• R.H. Whittaker
• Aristotle

2. Which of the following prizes were awarded to Ernst Mayr?

• Balzan Prize
• Nobel Prize
• International Prize for Biology
• Crafoord Prize

3. The estimated range of known and described species on Earth is:

• 1.0-1.5 million
• 1.7-1.8 million
• 2.0-2.5 million
• 5.0-10.0 million

4. The process of standardising the naming of living organisms so that a particular organism is known by the same name all over the world is called:

• Classification
• Identification
• Nomenclature
• Systematics

5. Nomenclature is only possible when the organism is correctly described and known. This prerequisite process is termed:

• Classification
• Identification
• Characterisation
• Systematization

6. Which international code provides principles and criteria for scientific names of plants?

• ICZN
• ICPN
• ICBN
• ICAN

7. The scientific name of Mango, *Mangifera indica*, is an example of which naming system?

• Monomial nomenclature
• Trinomial nomenclature
• Binomial nomenclature
• Polynomial nomenclature

8. According to the universal rules of nomenclature, which of the following is correct regarding biological names?

• Biological names are generally in English and written in bold.
• The first word represents the species, and the second is the genus.
• When handwritten, both words are separately underlined to indicate Latin origin.
• The specific epithet starts with a capital letter.

9. In the scientific name *Mangifera indica Linn.*, what does 'Linn.' signify?

• The region of origin
• The year of discovery
• The habitat where it was found
• The author who first described the species

10. The process by which anything is grouped into convenient categories based on some easily observable characters is called:

• Identification
• Systematics
• Classification
• Nomenclature

11. The scientific term for convenient categories used to study organisms like 'Plants', 'Wheat', 'Animals', 'Mammals', and 'Dogs' is:

• Groups
• Phyla
• Taxa
• Orders

12. Modern taxonomic studies are based on which of the following characteristics?

• Only external structure and ecological information.
• Only internal structure and development process.
• External and internal structure, along with cell structure, development process, and ecological information.
• Only historical use by human beings.

13. Which of the following processes are considered basic to taxonomy?

• Observation
• Experimentation
• Documentation
• Characterisation
• Identification
• Classification
• Nomenclature

14. The word 'systematics' is derived from the Latin word 'systema', which means:

• Diverse life forms
• Evolutionary relationships
• Systematic arrangement of organisms
• Biological classification

15. The scope of systematics was later enlarged to include:

• Only identification and nomenclature.
• Identification, nomenclature, and classification.
• Only evolutionary relationships.
• Classification and economic importance.

16. Which of the following represents the correct ascending order of taxonomic categories?

• Genus, Species, Family, Order, Class, Phylum, Kingdom
• Species, Genus, Family, Order, Class, Phylum, Kingdom
• Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species
• Family, Genus, Species, Order, Class, Phylum, Kingdom

17. As we go higher from species to kingdom in the taxonomic hierarchy, what happens to the number of common characteristics?

• It increases
• It remains constant
• It decreases
• It first increases then decreases

18. A group of individual organisms with fundamental similarities is considered a:

• Genus
• Family
• Species
• Class

19. Which of the following specific epithets belong to the genus *Solanum*?

• *leo*
• *indica*
• *tigris*
• *nigrum*
• *melongena*
• *tuberosum*

20. The genus *Panthera* includes which of the following species?

• *leo*
• *pardus*
• *tigris*
• *domesticus*