What happened (interactive evolution quiz segment)
The Hindu published an interactive reader quiz on how evolution happens. The quiz presents short prompts meant to build quick recognition of standard evolutionary mechanisms and vocabulary, including concepts often tested as short definitions.
The quiz includes five questions on evolutionary ideas:
1) Chance-driven evolution with harmful outcomes: the quiz describes random changes where certain gene versions become more common and traits occur more or less often in a way that harms an animal. The quiz asks for a two-word term.
2) Endosymbiotic theory letter question: the quiz asks what “X” stands for in a theory describing mitochondria and chloroplasts originating as free-living bacteria engulfed by an earlier cell (a proposed route for the origin of complex life cells).
3) Bursts amid long stability: the quiz refers to a proposal made in 1972 by palaeontologists Niles Eldredge and another palaeontologist. The quiz asks the name “Y” for evolution that includes rapid bursts during long periods of stability.