First life form on earth was chemoheterotrophs. These organisms obtain their energy by fermenting the complex organic substances that are available in the sea. They are mainly anaerobic. They have a major role in nutrient cycling and energy transfer. They live in a diversity of areas like soil and water and even gastrointestinal tracts of animals.
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:
In 2021, 5.3 percent of 15 to 16-year-olds worldwide (13.5 million individuals) had used Cannabis in the past year according to UNODC. The adolescent brain is still developing and drug use can have long-term negative effects. Early drug use initiation can lead to faster development of dependence than in adults and other problems in adulthood. Parts of the Amazon Basin are at the intersection of multiple forms of organized crimes that are accelerating devastation, with severe implications for the security, health, and well-being of the population across the region. The direct impact of coca cultivation on deforestation is minimal, but indirectly it acts as a catalyst for "Narco-deforestation." The laundering of drug trafficking profits into land speculation etc. is posing a growing danger to the world's largest rainforest.
(a) Which age group or period of growth are people more vulnerable to drug abuse?
(b) Explain the negative impact of coca cultivation on the world's largest rainforest.
(c)
(i) From which part of the plant are cannabinoids mainly obtained? Mention any one negative effect of this drug on adolescents.
OR
(ii) State the scientific name of the plant from which coca alkaloids are derived and state one negative impact of the use of excessive dosage of cocaine.
Which of the following combinations is a correct example of convergent evolution in Australian marsupials and placental mammals?
Evolution is a process that occurs in changes in the genetic content of a population over time. Evolutionary change is generally classified into two: microevolution and macroevolution. The process of changes in allele frequencies in a population over time is a microevolutionary process. Three main mechanisms that cause allele frequency change are natural selection, genetic drift, and gene flow. On the other hand, macroevolution refers to change at or above the level of the species.