Evolution of Man (NCERT) - Free MCQ Practice Test with solutions, NEET

(i) The skull of a baby chimpanzee is more like an adult human skull than an adult chimpanzee skull. This is true. The skulls of baby chimpanzees and humans are very similar in shape and size. As they grow, the skulls of chimpanzees begin to differentiate and become more distinct.

(ii) The first mammals were like shrews. This is also true. The earliest known mammals were small, shrew-like creatures that lived during the Mesozoic Era, around 200 million years ago.

(iii) The work of Thomas Malthus on populations influenced Lamarck. This is false. It was Charles Darwin, not Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, who was influenced by Thomas Malthus's work on population growth. Malthus's ideas on population growth and scarcity of resources influenced Darwin's theory of natural selection. Lamarck, on the other hand, proposed a different theory of evolution based on the inheritance of acquired characteristics.
Correct answer is C.

Ramapithecus appeared about 15 million years ago in Pliocene epoch. Fossil of Ramapithecus was discovered by Edward Lewis (1932) from rocks of Shivalik Hills of India.

Homo erectus appeared about 1.7 million years ago in middle Pleistocene. Its brain capacity was about 900 c.c. He was about 1.5−1.8 m tall having erect posture. 

Big-Bang theory was proposed by Abbe Lemaitre. It states that the universe originated due to a thermonuclear explosion of a dense entity. It was the first proposed theory.

The brain capacity gradually increased from early human ancestors. Homo habilis has 650−800c.c., brain capacity which increased around 900c.c., in Homo erectus The Neanderthal man had 1400c.c., brain capacity which evolved to around 1450c.c., in Homo sapiens sapiens.

The correct statement is:

a) Homo erectus is preceded by Homo habilis

Explanation:

• Homo habilis is considered one of the earliest members of the genus Homo, and it lived before Homo erectus, which appeared around 1.9 million years ago.
• Neanderthal man and Cro-Magnon man (early modern humans) did live around the same time, but Neanderthals were primarily in Europe and western Asia, while Cro-Magnons were early modern humans, also in Europe, and there was some overlap in their existence, so option b is partially correct but misleading.
• Australopithecus lived in Africa, not Australia, so option c is incorrect.
• Therefore, option a is the correct answer.

Ramapithecus was more man-like, while Dryopithecus was more ape-like. Homo erectus had a larger brain (~900 cc) than Homo habilis (~650–800 cc), so statement B is incorrect. Neanderthals used hides and buried their dead, and Homo sapiens originated in Africa.

The correct answer is Option A - B → D → C → A

Australopithecus is the earliest among these, lived roughly 4-2 million years ago (mya), showed habitual bipedalism and had a relatively small brain (~400-500 cc).

Homo habilis appeared next (about 2.4-1.4 mya), had a larger brain (~600-700 cc) and is associated with the simple Oldowan stone-tool industry, indicating greater manual dexterity and tool use.

Homo erectus followed (from about 1.9 mya), with a still larger brain (~900-1100 cc), fully upright posture, more advanced Acheulean tools, and the first clear evidence of dispersal out of Africa.

Homo sapiens (anatomically modern humans) appear much later (~0.3 mya or 300,000 years ago) with a brain size around 1300-1400 cc and evidence of complex tools and symbolic behaviour.

Because of these chronological ranges and anatomical/technological features, the correct chronological sequence is Australopithecus → Homo habilis → Homo erectus → Homo sapiens, which corresponds to Option A.