CSIR NET Life Sciences Evolution And Behaviour Syllabus

Evolution And Behaviour syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Evolution And Behaviour in CSIR NET Life Sciences, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Emergence of evolutionary thoughts

   5 topics

   • Lamarck
   • Darwin–concepts of variation, adaptation, struggle, fitness and natural selection
   • Mendelism
   • Spontaneity of mutations
   • The evolutionary synthesis
2. 2

   Origin of cells and unicellular evolution

   9 topics

   • Origin of basic biological molecules
   • Abiotic synthesis of organic monomers and polymers
   • Concept of Oparin and Haldane
   • Experiement of Miller (1953)
   • The first cell
   • Evolution of prokaryotes
   • Origin of eukaryotic cells
   • Evolution of unicellular eukaryotes
   • Anaerobic metabolism, photosynthesis and aerobic metabolism
3. 3

   Paleontology and Evolutionary History

   6 topics

   • The evolutionary time scale
   • Eras, periods and epoch
   • Major events in the evolutionary time scale
   • Origins of unicellular and multicellular organisms
   • Major groups of plants and animals
   • Stages in primate evolution including Homo
4. 4

   Molecular Evolution

   5 topics

   • Concepts of neutral evolution, molecular divergence and molecular clocks
   • Molecular tools in phylogeny, classification and identification
   • Protein and nucleotide sequence analysis
   • Origin of new genes and proteins
   • Gene duplication and divergence
5. 5

   The Mechanisms

   9 topics

   • Population genetics – Populations, Gene pool, Gene frequency
   • Hardy-Weinberg Law
   • Concepts and rate of change in gene frequency through natural selection, migration and random genetic drift
   • Adaptive radiation
   • Isolating mechanisms
   • Speciation
     • Allopatricity
     • Sympatricity
   • Convergent evolution
   • Sexual selection
   • Co-evolution
6. 6

   Brain, Behavior and Evolution

   15 topics

   • Approaches and methods in study of behavior
   • Proximate and ultimate causation
   • Altruism and evolution-Group selection, Kin selection, Reciprocal altruism
   • Neural basis of learning, memory, cognition, sleep and arousal
   • Biological clocks
   • Development of behavior
   • Social communication
   • Social dominance
   • Use of space and territoriality
   • Mating systems, Parental investment and Reproductive success
   • Parental care
   • Aggressive behavior
   • Habitat selection and optimality in foraging
   • Migration, orientation and navigation
   • Domestication and behavioral changes

Evolution And Behaviour flashcards for CSIR NET Life Sciences

22 of 50 cards from the Evolution And Behaviour deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What is Lamarck's theory of evolution (inheritance of acquired characters)?

   Lamarckism proposes that organisms change during their lifetime through use and disuse of organs, and these acquired characteristics are passed to offspring (e.g., giraffe necks lengthening from stretching). It is now discredited because acquired somatic traits are not inherited.

2. According to Darwin, what is 'variation' and why is it essential for natural selection?

   Variation refers to heritable differences among individuals in a population. It is essential because natural selection acts on this variation, favoring individuals whose traits confer higher survival and reproduction.

3. Define 'fitness' in the Darwinian evolutionary sense.

   Fitness is the relative reproductive success of an individual or genotype — its contribution of offspring (and genes) to the next generation compared to others in the population.

4. State the core principle of Darwin's theory of natural selection.

   More offspring are produced than can survive; individuals vary in heritable traits; those with traits best suited to the environment ('struggle for existence') survive and reproduce more, so favorable traits accumulate over generations.

5. What is 'adaptation' in evolutionary biology?

   An adaptation is a heritable trait that has evolved through natural selection because it increases an organism's fitness in its particular environment.

6. What is Mendelism and how did it complement Darwinian evolution?

   Mendelism is the theory of particulate inheritance via discrete genes (alleles) following Mendel's laws of segregation and independent assortment. It provided the mechanism of heredity that Darwin lacked, explaining how variation is maintained rather than blended away.

7. What does the 'spontaneity (randomness) of mutations' mean?

   Mutations arise randomly with respect to an organism's needs; they are not directed by the environment. The environment selects among existing variants but does not induce adaptive mutations (demonstrated by Luria–Delbrück fluctuation test).

8. What is the Modern (Evolutionary) Synthesis?

   The integration of Darwinian natural selection with Mendelian genetics and population genetics (1930s–1940s), explaining evolution as change in allele frequencies in populations over time. Key figures include Fisher, Haldane, Wright, Dobzhansky, and Mayr.

9. What were the proposed basic biological molecules whose origin abiogenesis must explain?

   Amino acids, nucleotides (purines/pyrimidines, sugars), fatty acids/lipids, and simple sugars — the monomers that polymerize into proteins, nucleic acids, and membranes.

10. What is meant by abiotic synthesis of organic monomers and polymers?

    The formation of organic monomers (amino acids, nucleotides) and their polymers (proteins, nucleic acids) from inorganic precursors without living organisms, driven by energy sources like UV, lightning, and heat on the early Earth.

11. What is the Oparin–Haldane hypothesis?

    It proposes that life arose from a 'primordial soup' on early Earth with a reducing atmosphere (CH4, NH3, H2, water vapor); energy sources drove abiotic synthesis of organic molecules that accumulated and eventually formed self-replicating systems (coacervates).

12. What did the Miller–Urey experiment (1953) demonstrate?

    It showed that organic molecules, including several amino acids, form spontaneously when a simulated reducing early-atmosphere mixture (CH4, NH3, H2, H2O) is exposed to electric sparks (simulated lightning), supporting abiotic synthesis.

13. What is the 'RNA world' hypothesis for the first cell/life?

    It proposes RNA was the original genetic and catalytic molecule (ribozymes) before DNA and proteins, because RNA can both store information and catalyze reactions, enabling self-replication in early life.

14. What characterized the evolution of prokaryotes as the first cells?

    The first cells were anaerobic prokaryotes (~3.5–3.8 bya) lacking a nucleus and organelles; they diversified into Bacteria and Archaea, evolving metabolic pathways including anaerobic fermentation and later photosynthesis.

15. How did eukaryotic cells originate (endosymbiotic theory)?

    Eukaryotes arose when a host cell engulfed aerobic bacteria (becoming mitochondria) and cyanobacteria (becoming chloroplasts), which became permanent endosymbionts. Evidence: double membranes, own circular DNA, and 70S ribosomes in these organelles.

16. What is the evolutionary sequence of major metabolic modes on early Earth?

    Anaerobic metabolism (glycolysis/fermentation) evolved first, followed by photosynthesis (producing O2), and then aerobic metabolism (oxidative respiration) after oxygen accumulated in the atmosphere.

17. What was the 'Great Oxygenation Event' and its significance?

    The rise of atmospheric O2 (~2.4 bya) produced by oxygenic cyanobacterial photosynthesis. It enabled aerobic respiration (far more efficient ATP yield) and the ozone layer, but was toxic to many anaerobes.

18. List the major divisions of geological/evolutionary time from largest to smallest.

    Eon > Era > Period > Epoch > Age. (Eras are divided into periods, periods into epochs.)

19. Name the three Phanerozoic eras and the dominant life of each.

    Paleozoic ('ancient life' — invertebrates, fishes, amphibians, first land plants), Mesozoic ('middle life' — age of reptiles/dinosaurs, gymnosperms), and Cenozoic ('recent life' — age of mammals, birds, angiosperms).

20. Roughly when did unicellular and multicellular organisms first appear?

    Unicellular prokaryotes ~3.5 bya; unicellular eukaryotes ~1.5–2 bya; multicellular organisms ~1 bya, with major multicellular diversification in the Cambrian explosion (~540 mya).

21. What was the Cambrian explosion?

    A rapid diversification (~540 mya, early Paleozoic) during which most major animal phyla (body plans) appeared in the fossil record over a geologically short period.

22. Name the major groups (phyla/divisions) of plants in evolutionary order.

    Algae → Bryophytes (mosses, non-vascular) → Pteridophytes (ferns, vascular seedless) → Gymnosperms (naked seeds) → Angiosperms (flowering plants with enclosed seeds).

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