Living World NEET PYQs (Updated Syllabus 2025)

✅ (b) Plasmodium falciparum ‒ a protozoan pathogen causing the most serious type of malaria.

Explanation:

• Plasmodium falciparum is the correct scientific name and is a protozoan parasite responsible for the most severe form of malaria in humans.

• It completes its life cycle in two hosts: humans (where it causes malaria) and mosquitoes (as the vector).

Why Not Other Options?

❌ (a) Musca domestica → This is the housefly, not the common house lizard.
❌ (c) Felis tigris → The correct name for the tiger is Panthera tigris, not Felis tigris.
❌ (d) E. coli → E. coli stands for Escherichia coli, not Entamoeba coli. The latter is a different organism

✅ (a) International Code of Botanical Nomenclature

Explanation:

• ICBN refers to the set of rules for naming plants, known as the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature

✅ (d) Submicroscopic molecular level

Explanation:

• Biological organization starts at the molecular level, where biomolecules (proteins, DNA, lipids) assemble into macromolecular structures.

• These form organelles, which then make up cells, tissues, and organisms.

• Example: Microtubules (made of tubulin proteins) help in cell structure and movement.

Correct Answer:

✅ (c) Division ‒ Class ‒ Order ‒ Family ‒ Tribe ‒ Genus ‒ Species

Explanation:

• The correct sequence of taxonomic categories (from broad to specific) is: Division → Class → Order → Family → Tribe → Genus → Species.

• This hierarchy helps classify organisms based on shared characteristics, from the broadest (division) to the most specific (species).

❌ (a) Isolated metabolic reactions occur in vitro → Metabolism is a feature of life, but isolated reactions in a test tube (in vitro) are not life itself.
❌ (b) Increase in mass from inside only →

• Some non-living things (like clouds or mountains) increase in mass.

• Dead organisms (like nails and hair in a dead body) can still show growth-like properties for a while.
  ❌ This means that while internal growth is a feature of life, it is not exclusive to defining life.

❌ (d) Increase in mass by accumulation of material both on surface as well as internally → Non-living things like mountains or sand dunes also grow by external accumulation

✅ (c) The classification of organisms based on their evolutionary history and establishing their phylogeny on the totality of various parameters from all fields of studies.

Explanation:

• Biosystematics is the study of organisms’ diversity, classification, and relationships using a wide range of parameters such as anatomy, ecology, physiology, biochemistry, and evolutionary history

❌ (a) Interaction with the environment and progressive evolution → Many non-living things also interact with the environment (e.g., a river erodes rocks), and evolution occurs over generations, not in an individual.
❌ (b) Reproduction → Some living organisms (e.g., mules, worker bees, sterile humans) do not reproduce, so it is not a universal criterion.
❌ (c) Growth and movement → Non-living things like clouds, mountains, and crystals can also grow or move, so this is not an exclusive characteristic.

Binomial nomenclature was first given by C. Linnaeus (1735) in his book ‘Systema Naturae” and  later in (‘Species Plantarum” (1753). He used two latin words for any organism, the first being  generic name and the second is specific name. The generic name begins with capital letter and the  species name with small letter

Explanation:

• The scientific name of the tiger is Panthera tigris

❌ (b) Cuttlefish ‒ Mollusca, class → While Cuttlefish is a mollusk, Mollusca is the phylum, not the class. The class is Cephalopoda.
❌ (c) Humans ‒ primata, family → The family for humans is Hominidae, and Primata is the order, not the family.
❌ (d) Housefly ‒ Musca, order → Musca is the genus of the housefly, while the order is Diptera.

Potato (Solanum tuberosum) and tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum) both belong to Family  Solanaceae, which is commonly called as the “potato family Many plants belonging to this family are  sources of vegetables, fruits, etc

Correct Answer:

✅ (a) Species

Explanation:

• The species is the smallest and most specific unit of classification in taxonomy.

• It refers to a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.

Correct Answer:

✅ (a) Real basic units of classification

Explanation:

• Species are considered the basic unit of classification because they represent the most specific category, grouping organisms that can interbreed.

✅ (c) Mangifera indica Linn.

Explanation:

• The correct scientific name follows binomial nomenclature (Genus + species) and should be italicized or underlined (if handwritten)

• ❌ (a) Mangifera Indica → Species name should be lowercase (indica, not Indica).
  ❌ (b) Mangifera indica Car. Linn. → “Car.” is unnecessary, only Linn. is used.
  ❌ (d) Mangifera indica → Author name (Linn.) is missing.

✅ (d) Taxon

Explanation:

• A taxon is any group of plants or animals classified together based on similar traits, regardless of rank (e.g., species, genus, order).

• It represents a unit in the taxonomic hierarchy

Correct Answer:

✅ (d) A taxonomic group of any ranking.

Explanation:

• A taxon is any group of organisms that are classified together at any level of the taxonomic hierarchy, such as species, genus, family, order, etc.

✅ (a) Species

Explanation:

• General refers to broad characteristics shared by many organisms, while specific refers to traits unique to a particular group.

• Species is less general than genus because it represents a more specific group with distinct, narrower characteristics. A genus contains multiple species, so it is more general.

✅ (c) Biological names can be written in any language.

Explanation:

• Scientific names must be in Latin or latinized, as Latin is a dead language and remains unchanged over time.

• This ensures universality and consistency in naming organism

✅ (b) Taxonomy

Explanation:

• A taxon is a group of organisms classified together at any level of the taxonomic hierarchy (e.g., species, genus, family, etc.).

• Taxonomy is the field of biology that involves the identification, classification, and naming of organisms into these groups or taxa.