VASISHTHA GENESIS SCHOOL, BARDOLI.

Class: 10th (NCERT SOLUTIONS)

UNIT 09: HEREDITY & EVOLUTION

Exercise-9.1 Page: 143

1. If a trait A exists in 10% of a population of an asexually
reproducing species and trait B exists in 60% of the same
population, which trait is likely to have arisen earlier?
Solution: Trait B is more probable to arise early as this trait has already
been existing and replicating in a larger percentage of the population as
compared to trait A.
2. How does the creation of variations in a species promote
survival?
Solution: Genetic variations enable the species to better adapt to changes
in its environment. Moreover, it is an important force in evolution as it
allows the frequency of alleles to increase or decrease through natural
selection. These variations will determine the difference between
extinction or continuation of the species.
Exercise-9.2 Page: 147
1. How do Mendel’s experiments show that traits may be
dominant or recessive?
Solution: Mendel showed that the traits could either be dominant or
recessive through his experiments that focused on the mono-hybrid cross.
The experiment involved him crossing tall (TT) pea plants with dwarf (tt)
pea plants. The resultant plants which formed after fertilisation
represented the F1 (or filial) generation. All the F1 plants were tall.
Mendel then proceeded to self-pollinate the filial generation plants, and
the result was that 1/4th of the plants obtained in the F2 generation were
dwarfs. From this experiment, Mendel concluded that the F1 tall plants
were not true-breeding; instead, they carried the traits for both tall and
dwarf heights. A portion of the plants was tall due to the fact that the
traits for tallness were dominant over the traits for dwarfness. This
cements the notion that traits can either be dominant or recessive.
2. How do Mendel’s experiments show that traits are inherited
independently?
Solution: Mendel’s experiments show that traits are inherited
independently through his dihybrid cross experiment. The experiment
involved him using two traits – namely, seed shape and seed colour. The
colour yellow (YY) is dominant over green (yy), while the round shape
(RR) is dominant over the wrinkled shape (rr). The F2 progeny of the
dihybrid cross resulted in a phenotypic ratio of 9:3:3:1; therefore, 9
plants with round yellow (RRYY) seeds, 3 plants with round green (RRyy)
seeds and 3 plants with wrinkled yellow (rrYY) seeds and one with
wrinkled green seeds (rryy). He further observed that the wrinkled greens
and the round yellow are parental combinations while the round green
and wrinkled yellow are new. A dihybrid cross between two seeds with
dominant traits (RRYY) and non-dominant traits (rryy) resulted in the
production of 4 types of gametes (RY, Ry, rY and ry). This means each of
the gametes segregates independently of the other, and each with a
frequency of 25% of the total gametes produced.
3. A man with blood group A marries a woman with blood group
O, and their daughter has blood group O. Is this information
enough to tell you which of the traits – blood group A or O – is
dominant? Why or why not?
Solution: Given information is not enough to tell us which characteristics
are dominant – blood group A or O. Blood type A is always dominant in
ABO blood, and blood type O is always recessive. Here, the father’s blood
group may be genotypically AA (homozygous) or AO (heterozygous),
whereas that of the mother can be OA or OO.
4. How is the sex of the child determined in human beings?
Solution: The sex of the child in humans is determined by the males.
Males have XY chromosomes, while females have XX chromosomes.
Hence, if:

• The male’s X chromosomes combine with the female’s X

chromosomes, the mother gives birth to a girl
• The male’s Y chromosome combines with the female’s X
chromosome, the mother gives birth to a boy
Exercise-9.3 Page: 150
1. What are the different ways in which individuals with a
particular trait may increase in a population?
Solution: An individual attribute could increase a population in the
following 2 ways:
(a) Natural selection: If an attribute is useful to a population, it’ll
increase naturally.
For example, mosquitoes which are resilient against a particular pesticide
will pass on their genes so that future generations become resistant as
well. The mosquitoes which are affected by the pesticide die out.
(b) Genetic drift: If a species faces a catastrophic event where most of
the population is wiped out, the surviving population can pass on their
traits to the following generations. This may result in a rise in the
attribute within the population.
2. Why are traits acquired during the lifetime of an individual not
inherited?
Solution: Traits acquired during a lifetime cannot be inherited by
successive generations as the changes do not reflect in the DNA of the
germ cells. For instance, a football player cannot pass on his skills to his
offspring as they are limited to non-reproductive cells only.
3. Why are the small numbers of surviving tigers a cause of worry
from the point of view of genetics?
Solution: As the size of the tiger population decreases, the genetic pool of
the species decreases too. This results in a limitation on the variations
which will be introduced within the genetic makeup of the tigers. This lack
of variation will result in serious implications. For example, if an illness
spreads within the tiger population, it can potentially wipe out the whole
population, possibly causing their extinction.
Exercise – 9.4 Page: 151
1. What factors could lead to the rise of a new species?
Solution: Factors that would result in a new species are as follows:
(a) Mutation
(b) Genetic drift
(c) Natural selection
(d) Geographical isolation
(e) Generative isolation for prolonged periods
(f) Environmental factors on the isolated populations
(g) Quantum of genetic variant transmissible from one generation to the
following generation
2. Will geographical isolation be a major factor in the speciation of
a self-pollinating plant species? Why or why not?
Solution: In the pollination of plant species, geographical isolation is
usually not a major factor, as no new trait will become part of the genetic
makeup of a self-pollinating plant species. However, there are some
possibilities of some environmental changes which could result in some
variations.
3. Will geographical isolation be a major factor in the speciation of
an organism that reproduces asexually? Why or why not?
Solution: In the case of asexually reproducing organisms, geographical
isolation can’t be considered a factor. This is due to the fact that meiosis
does not occur during asexual modes of reproduction.
Exercise – 9.5 Page: 156
1. Give an example of characteristics being used to determine how
close two species are in evolutionary terms.
Solution: Let us take the instance of humans and chimpanzees.
Chimpanzees are able to express a wide range of emotions, such as
busting out in laughter or smiling – this trait was once thought to be a
feature exclusive to humans. The smile can be linked to the activation of
the brain’s limbic system, where the orbicularis oculi muscle involuntarily
contracts and raises the cheeks, forming wrinkles around the eyes. This
implies that the smile is a true and genuine smile. Interestingly, this type
of reflex has a name – the Duchenne smile. Moreover, research has
shown that chimpanzees share 98.6% of our DNA – This means that
humans and chimpanzees shared a common ancestor aeons ago. It is
also important to note that chimpanzees are the closest living relatives to
humans.
2. Can the wing of a butterfly and the wing of a bat be considered
homologous organs? Why or why not?
Solution: The wing of a butterfly and the wing of a bat cannot be
considered homologous organs as they do not share a common ancestor.
Even though both structures aid in flying, they have evolved separately.
To prove this, the wings of a butterfly are composed of two chitinous
membranes, whereas the wings of a bat are composed of a bony
skeleton, complete with blood vessels. Hence, these aren’t homologous
organs but rather analogous organs.
3. What are fossils? What do they tell us about the process of
evolution?
Solution: Fossils are the preserved remains of animals or plants, or other
organisms that died out millions of years ago. These fossils tell us about a
lot of extinct animals and also give insights into how evolution might have
occurred. Fossils can be used to understand how an organism would have
lived and what it may have looked like. More importantly, we can
correlate with fossils as well as extant organisms to understand their
relationships. For instance, scientists were able to recover protein
sequences from a dinosaur called the T-rex, which confirmed its avian
lineage. This means birds are the extant relatives of (avian) dinosaurs.
Moreover, the pattern of fossil distribution gives us an idea of the time in
history when various species were formed or become extinct.
Exercise – 9.6 Page: 158
1. Why are human beings who look so different from each other in
terms of size, colour and looks said to belong to the same species?
Solution: While human beings do vary in colour and general appearance,
their genetic makeup is identical to any other human. One of the
speculations put forth for our drastic changes is due to evolutionary
pressure, where the need to be easily recognised pushed us towards
having widely different faces.
2. In evolutionary terms, can we say which among bacteria,
spiders, fish and chimpanzees have a ‘better’ body design? Why or
why not?
Solution: Body designs are the result of environmental needs and
pressure. Hence, we can’t conclude that one organism has a better body
compared to another. For instance, fish have evolved a streamlined
design as it is best suited for an aquatic environment. On the other hand,
a spider or a chimpanzee might be ill-equipped to survive in such aquatic
environments.
Exercises Page: 159
1. A Mendelian experiment consisted of breeding tall pea plants
bearing violet flowers with short pea plants bearing white
flowers. The progeny all bore violet flowers, but almost half of
them were short. This suggests that the genetic makeup of the tall
parent can be depicted as
(a) TTWW
(b) TTww
(c) TtWW
(d) TtWw
Solution: Correct answer – (c)
TtWW might be the genetic makeup of the tall parent. Since half the
progenies are short, this implies that the parent plant also will have a
collection of short genes; all progenies bore violet flowers, further
suggesting that violet colour is dominant over white.
2. An example of homologous organs is
(a) Our arm and a dog’s foreleg
(b) Our teeth and an elephant’s tusks
(c) Potato and runners of grass
(d) All of the above
Solution: Correct answer – (d)
Homologous organs have the same origin as each of the above organs but
different functions. Homologous organs can be defined as the organs of
various animals having similar basic structures but different functions. For
example, a whale’s flippers, a frog’s forelimbs, and a man have the same
basic structures but perform different functions, which is why they are
called homologous organs.
3. In evolutionary terms, we have more in common with
(a) A Chinese schoolboy
(b) A chimpanzee
(c) A spider
(d) A bacterium
Solution: Correct answer – (a)
Humans and chimpanzees are related since they belong to the identical
order (Primates) and the same family (Hominidae). However, a
schoolboy, regardless of ethnicity, is still a Homo sapien.
4. A study found that children with light-coloured eyes are likely
to have parents with light-coloured eyes. On this basis, can we
say anything about whether the light eye colour trait is dominant
or recessive? Why or why not?
Solution: Knowledge of at least 3 generations is required to find if an
attribute is dominant or recessive. Hence, it is not possible to identify if
the given trait is dominant or recessive.
5. How are the areas of study – evolution and classification –
interlinked?
Solution: Classification and evolution are two related fields of biology.
Evolution pertains to how organisms evolve, and classification deals with
finding out how two species are related to each other. For example,
evolution and fossil evidence point to the fact that Australopithecus
afarensis is considered one of our earliest ancestors. And classification
tells us that Australopithecus afarensis belongs to the genus Homo, which
is also the same genus as modern humans.
6. Explain the terms analogous and homologous organs with
examples.
Solution: Homologous organs are those organs that have the basic
structural design as well as the origin; however, they serve different
functions. For example, the forelimbs of humans and the wings of bats
are anatomically similar. Analogous organs are those organs that have a
different structural design as well as origin; however, they perform similar
functions. For example, the wings of birds and insects.
7. Outline a project which aims to find the dominant coat colour in
dogs.
Solution: Dogs have a certain set of genes that govern coat colour. There
are a minimum of eleven known sequence series (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, M,
P, S, T) that influence the colour of a dog. A dog inherits one copy from
each of its parents. As an example, within the B series, a dog is
genetically black or brown. Assume that one parent is homozygous black
(BB), whereas the other parent is homozygous brown (bb).

In this case, all the offspring are going to be heterozygous (Bb).

Since black (B) is dominant, all the offspring are going to be black.
However, they are going to have each B and b alleles. If such
heterozygous pups are crossed, they are going to produce 25
homozygous blacks (BB), 15 heterozygous black (Bb), and 25
homozygous brown (bb) offspring.

8. Explain the importance of fossils in deciding evolutionary

relationships.
Solution: Fossils give evidence about:
(a) The organism and their paleobiology
(b) Even the behaviour of an organism can be deduced to some extent
(for example, palaeontologists) have unearthed a site with more than
10,000 skeletons of a dinosaur called Hadrosaurus. This implies that the
dinosaur lived in herds.
(c) Fossils also provide insight into the evolutionary history of animals
and plants (for instance, palaeontologists have discovered that whales
had evolved from goat-sized land-dwelling animals called Pakicetus).
9. What evidence do we have for the origin of life from inanimate
matter?
Solution: The evidence on the origin of life from inanimate matter was
provided by Stanley L. Miller and Harold C. Urey’s experiment, which was
conducted in 1953. They created an artificial environment which was
reminiscent of the early earth’s atmosphere – it contained ammonia,
hydrogen and other gases which were thought to have existed during
primordial earth. This concoction of gases was kept at a temperature
slightly below 100 ° C. Additionally, sparks were generated to simulate
lightning, which was also thought to be common during that period. At
the end of the experiment, he was able to create 11 out of the 20 amino
acids which are required for life.
10. Explain how sexual reproduction gives rise to more viable
variations than asexual reproduction. How does this affect the
evolution of those organisms that reproduce sexually?
Solution: Sexual reproduction causes a lot of viable variations because of
the following reasons:
(a) Error in copying of DNA (though it was rare)
(b) Random segregation of paternal and maternal chromosomes at the
time of sex cell formation.
(c) Exchange of genetic material between homologous chromosomes
during the formation of gametes.
(d) Accumulation of variations occurred because of reproduction over
generation after generation, and choice naturally created wide diversity.
(e) In the case of asexual reproduction, variation is severely limited as
there is only one parent involved. Hence, the offspring is genetically
similar to the parent
11. How is the equal genetic contribution of male and female
parents ensured in the progeny?
Solution: Equal genetic contribution of male and female parents is
ensured in progeny through the inheritance of equal numbers of
chromosomes from both parents. There are 23 pairs of chromosomes, but
not all are paired. The 22 pairs are called autosomes, while the remaining
1 pair is called the sex chromosomes (represented as X and Y). Females
have two sets of X-chromosomes, while males have one X-chromosome
and one Y-chromosome. During the process of reproduction, fertilisation
takes place, where the male gamete fuses with the female gamete, and it
results in the formation of a diploid zygote. Furthermore, the zygote
receives an equal contribution of genetic material from both parents. The
male contributes 22 autosomes plus one X or Y chromosome. The female
contributes 22 autosomes plus one X-chromosome.
12. Only variations that confer an advantage to an individual
organism will survive in a population. Do you agree with this
statement? Why or why not?
Solution: The statement holds true – only variations provide an
advantage to individual organisms that will survive in a population. For
example, variations that lead to the increase in heat resistance in bacteria
are very useful for survival if they find themselves in an environment
where there is a sudden increase in ambient temperature. This will
determine the difference between life and death for the bacteria.