Question

Study the following and choose the correct statements:
I. Darwinism explains the survival of the fittest but not the arrival of the fittest.
II. Mutations are subjected to natural selection.
III. Hardy Weinberg equilibrium is applicable to small populations.
IV. Industrial melanism was best studied in Drosophila melanogaster.

• A. I, III
• B. II, IV
• C. I, II
• D. (Option 4 is not provided)

Hint:

Peppered moth = industrial melanism example; HW equilibrium = ideal large population.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

• I is true: Darwinian natural selection explains differential survival/reproduction (“survival of the fittest”) but does not explain the origin (“arrival”) of novel variation — mutations provide raw material.
• II is true: mutations create variation and natural selection acts on that variation.
• III is false: Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium applies to large, randomly mating populations with no selection, migration or mutation; it is not for small populations.
• IV is false: industrial melanism was classically studied in the peppered moth (Biston betularia), not Drosophila.
• Therefore correct statements are I, II → option (3).