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CSIR NET Life Sciences Evolution And Behaviour Syllabus

The Evolution And Behaviour syllabus for CSIR NET Life Sciences in full: 6 chapters, 49 topics and 2 sub-topics, every one listed below, plus 50 Evolution And Behaviour flashcards with answers.

6Chapters
49Topics
2Sub-topics
50Flashcards

Evolution And Behaviour syllabus: all 6 chapters

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics.

  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. 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
    • Experiment of Miller (1953)
    • The first cell
    • Evolution of prokaryotes
    • Origin of eukaryotic cells
    • Evolution of unicellular eukaryotes
    • Anaerobic metabolism, photosynthesis and aerobic metabolism

  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. 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. 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. 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

CSIR NET Life Sciences Evolution And Behaviour flashcards — 50 questions with 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).

Show the other 30 Evolution And Behaviour flashcards

  1. 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.

  2. 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).

  3. List the major animal phyla in increasing complexity.

    Porifera, Cnidaria, Platyhelminthes, Nematoda, Annelida, Mollusca, Arthropoda, Echinodermata, and Chordata.

  4. Outline the main stages of primate/hominid evolution leading to Homo.

    Dryopithecus/Ramapithecus (apes) → Australopithecus (bipedal, small brain) → Homo habilis ('handy man', tool user) → Homo erectus (fire, larger brain) → Homo neanderthalensis → Homo sapiens (modern humans).

  5. What is the neutral theory of molecular evolution (Kimura)?

    It states that most molecular-level evolutionary changes are caused by random genetic drift of selectively neutral (or nearly neutral) mutations, not by natural selection.

  6. What is a molecular clock?

    The hypothesis that molecular sequences (DNA/protein) accumulate mutations at an approximately constant rate over time, allowing divergence times between species to be estimated from the number of sequence differences.

  7. What is molecular divergence?

    The accumulation of differences in DNA or protein sequences between two lineages over time after they split from a common ancestor; greater divergence generally indicates a more distant common ancestor.

  8. Name common molecular tools used in phylogeny and identification.

    DNA sequencing, PCR, DNA barcoding (e.g., COI, rRNA genes like 16S/18S), RFLP, RAPD, AFLP, microsatellites, and sequence alignment/phylogenetic tree software.

  9. What is the difference between protein and nucleotide sequence analysis in phylogenetics?

    Nucleotide analysis uses DNA/RNA sequences (more variable, good for closely related taxa); protein (amino acid) analysis is more conserved and useful for distantly related taxa because synonymous mutations don't change amino acids.

  10. How do new genes and proteins commonly originate?

    By gene duplication followed by divergence, exon shuffling, retrotransposition, horizontal gene transfer, gene fusion/fission, and de novo origin from non-coding DNA.

  11. Explain gene duplication and divergence as a source of evolutionary novelty.

    A gene is duplicated, freeing one copy from selective constraint; it can accumulate mutations and acquire a new function (neofunctionalization) or split the ancestral functions (subfunctionalization), producing gene families.

  12. Define population, gene pool, and gene (allele) frequency.

    A population is an interbreeding group of the same species in an area; the gene pool is the total of all alleles in that population; allele (gene) frequency is the proportion of a particular allele among all alleles at a locus.

  13. State the Hardy–Weinberg principle.

    In a large, randomly mating population with no mutation, migration, selection, or drift, allele and genotype frequencies remain constant across generations (genetic equilibrium).

  14. Give the Hardy–Weinberg equations for a two-allele locus.

    Allele frequencies: p + q = 1. Genotype frequencies: p² + 2pq + q² = 1, where p² = homozygous dominant, 2pq = heterozygous, q² = homozygous recessive.

  15. List the five conditions that must be met for Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium.

    (1) No mutation, (2) no gene flow/migration, (3) no natural selection, (4) random mating, and (5) infinitely large population size (no genetic drift).

  16. How does natural selection change allele frequencies?

    By differential survival and reproduction of genotypes: it increases the frequency of advantageous alleles and decreases deleterious ones. The rate depends on the selection coefficient (s) and the alleles' dominance.

  17. What is random genetic drift and when is it strongest?

    Random genetic drift is the change in allele frequencies due to chance sampling of gametes. Its effect is strongest in small populations and can cause loss or fixation of alleles regardless of fitness.

  18. What is gene flow (migration) and its effect on populations?

    Gene flow is the transfer of alleles between populations via movement of individuals or gametes. It tends to homogenize allele frequencies among populations and counteracts divergence/speciation.

  19. Distinguish the founder effect and the bottleneck effect.

    Both are forms of genetic drift. Founder effect: a new population started by a few individuals carries only a subset of the original gene pool. Bottleneck effect: a drastic population reduction randomly reduces genetic diversity.

  20. What is adaptive radiation? Give an example.

    The rapid diversification of a single ancestral lineage into many species adapted to different ecological niches. Example: Darwin's finches on the Galápagos Islands diversifying by beak/diet.

  21. Distinguish prezygotic and postzygotic isolating mechanisms.

    Prezygotic mechanisms prevent mating or fertilization (habitat, temporal, behavioral, mechanical, gametic isolation). Postzygotic mechanisms act after fertilization (hybrid inviability, hybrid sterility, hybrid breakdown).

  22. Define speciation and name its main geographic modes.

    Speciation is the formation of new, reproductively isolated species. Modes: allopatric (geographic separation), sympatric (within same area, e.g., polyploidy), parapatric (adjacent populations), and peripatric (small peripheral population).

  23. What is the difference between allopatric and sympatric speciation?

    Allopatric speciation occurs when populations are geographically separated, preventing gene flow. Sympatric speciation occurs without geographic isolation, within the same area (e.g., via polyploidy or disruptive selection).

  24. What is convergent evolution? Give an example.

    The independent evolution of similar traits in unrelated lineages due to similar selective pressures, producing analogous structures. Example: wings of birds, bats, and insects; streamlined bodies of sharks and dolphins.

  25. What is sexual selection and its two main forms?

    Selection arising from differential mating success. Forms: intrasexual selection (male–male competition for mates) and intersexual selection (mate choice, e.g., females choosing showy males like the peacock's tail).

  26. What is coevolution? Give an example.

    Reciprocal evolutionary change in two or more interacting species, each acting as a selective force on the other. Examples: flowering plants and their pollinators; predator–prey and host–parasite arms races.

  27. Distinguish proximate and ultimate causation of behavior.

    Proximate causation explains the immediate mechanism — how a behavior occurs (hormones, neural, developmental triggers). Ultimate causation explains why it evolved — its adaptive/fitness value and evolutionary history.

  28. What is kin selection and Hamilton's rule?

    Kin selection favors altruism toward relatives because they share genes. Hamilton's rule: altruism is favored when rB > C, where r = relatedness, B = benefit to recipient, C = cost to actor (concept of inclusive fitness).

  29. Distinguish group selection, kin selection, and reciprocal altruism.

    Group selection: traits favored because they benefit the group. Kin selection: altruism toward genetic relatives (inclusive fitness). Reciprocal altruism: helping non-relatives with expectation of future return ('you scratch my back...').

  30. What is a biological clock / circadian rhythm?

    An endogenous, self-sustaining internal timing mechanism (~24-hour circadian rhythm) that regulates physiological and behavioral cycles; entrained by external cues (zeitgebers like light) and controlled in mammals by the suprachiasmatic nucleus.

CSIR NET Life Sciences Evolution And Behaviour FAQ

What is in the CSIR NET Life Sciences Evolution And Behaviour syllabus?

CSIR NET Life Sciences Evolution And Behaviour is split into 6 chapters: Emergence of evolutionary thoughts, Origin of cells and unicellular evolution, Paleontology and Evolutionary History, Molecular Evolution, The Mechanisms and Brain, Behavior and Evolution. Together they contain 49 topics and 2 sub-topics.

How many chapters are in CSIR NET Life Sciences Evolution And Behaviour?

6 chapters, containing 49 topics and 2 sub-topics. The largest chapter is Brain, Behavior and Evolution, with 15 topics.

Are there flashcards for CSIR NET Life Sciences Evolution And Behaviour?

Yes — a 50-card Evolution And Behaviour deck, printed in full in the flashcards section of this page and available in the Examius app with spaced repetition. The free plan covers one exam of your choice, including its flashcards; Examius Pro, a one-time purchase, unlocks every other exam and deck.