7 + Interview Questions in GENERAL QA IN EVOLUTION Page 1 InterviewSolution

1.

Try to trace the various components of human evolution (hint: brain size and function, skeletal structure, dietary preference, etc.)

Answer»

The various components of human evolution are as follows.
(i) Brain capacity
(ii) Posture

(iii) Food / dietary preference and other important features.

Name	Brain capacity	Posture	Food	Features
Dryopithecus Africans	---	Knuckle walker, walked similar to gorillas and chimpanzees (was more ape-like)	Soft fruit and leaves	Canines large, arms and legs are of equal size
Ramapithecus	---	Semi-erect (more man-like)	Seeds, nuts	Canines were small while molars were large.
Australopithecus africanus	450 cm³	Full erect posture, height (1.05 m)	Herbivorous (ate fruits)	Hunted with stone weapons, lived at trees, canines and incisors were small
Homo habilis	735cm³	Fully erect posture, height (1.5 m)	Carnivorous	Canines were small. They were first tool makers.
Homo erectus	800-1100 cm³	Fully erect posture, height(1.5-1.8 m )	Omnivorous	They used stone and bone tools for hunting games.
Homo neanderthalnsis	1300-1600 cm³	Fully erect posture, height (1.5-1.66 m)	Omnivorous	Cave dwellers, used hides to protect their bodies and buried their dead
Homo sapiens fossilis	1650 cm³	Fully erect posture with height (1.8 m)	Omnivorous	They had strong jaw with teeth close together. They were cave dwellers, made paintings and carvings in the caves. They developed a culture and were called first modern men.
Homo sapiens sapiens	1200-1600 cm³	Fully erect posture, height (1.5-1.8 m )	Omnivorous	They are the living modern men, with high intelligence. They developed art, culture, language, speech, etc. They cultivated crops and domesticated animals.

2.	Can we call human evolution as adaptive radiation?
Answer» No, human evolution cannot be called adaptive radiation. This is because adaptive radiation is an evolutionary process that produces new species from a single, rapidly diversifying lineage, which is not the case with human evolution. Human evolution is a gradual process that took place slowly in time. It represents an example of anagenesis.

3.	Find out through internet and popular science articles whether animals other than man have self-consciousness.
Answer» There are many animals other than humans, which have self-consciousness. An example of an animal being self-conscious is dolphins. They are highly intelligent. They have a sense of self and they also recognize others among themselves and others. They communicate with each other by whistles, tail-slapping, and other body movements. Not only dolphins, there are certain other animals such as crow, parrot, chimpanzee, gorilla, orangutan, etc., which exhibit self-consciousness.

4.	Find out from newspapers and popular science articles any new fossil discoveries or controversies about evolution.
Answer» Fossils of dinosaurs have revealed the evolution of reptiles in Jurassic period. As a result of this, evolution of other animals such as birds and mammals has also been discovered. However, two unusual fossils recently unearthed in China have ignited a controversy over the evolution of birds. Confuciusornis is one such genus of primitive birds that were crow sized and lived during the Creataceous period in China.

5.	Practise drawing various animals and plants.
Answer» Ask your teachers and parents to suggest the names of plants and animals and practice drawing them. You can also take help from your book to find the names of plants and animals

6.

Answer»

The modern day animals and their ancient fossils are listed in the following table.

7.	Describe one example of adaptive radiation
Answer» Adaptive radiation is an evolutionary process that produces new species from a single, rapidly diversifying lineage. This process occurs due to natural selection. An example of adaptive radiation is Darwin finches, found in Galapagos Island. A large variety of finches is present in Galapagos Island that arose from a single species, which reached this land accidentally. As a result, many new species have evolved, diverged, and adapted to occupy new habitats. These finches have developed different eating habits and different types of beaks to suit their feeding habits. The insectivorous, blood sucking, and other species of finches with varied dietary habits have evolved from a single seed eating finch ancestor.