GATE EY 2024 Solved Question Paper PDF
GATE EY 2024 Solved Question Paper PDF
of
Examination
Q.1 If ‘→’ denotes increasing order of intensity, then the meaning of the words
(A) obfuscate
(B) obliterate
(C) fracture
(D) fissure
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Organizing Institute: IISc Bengaluru
Ecology and Evolution (EY)
The house-numbers on one side of a road are consecutive odd integers starting from
301, while the house-numbers on the other side of the road are consecutive even
numbers starting from 302. The total number of houses is the same on both sides of
the road.
If the difference of the sum of the house-numbers between the two sides of the road
is 27, then the number of houses on each side of the road is
(A) 27
(B) 52
(C) 54
(D) 26
Q.3 𝑝 𝑝
𝑝 𝑝 𝑞 (𝑞 −1)
For positive integers 𝑝 and 𝑞 , with ≠ 1,( ) =𝑝 . Then,
𝑞 𝑞
(A) 𝑞 𝑝 = 𝑝𝑞
(B) 𝑞𝑝 = 𝑝2𝑞
(C) √𝑞 = √𝑝
𝑝 𝑞
(D) √𝑞 = √𝑝
Page 2 of 46
Organizing Institute: IISc Bengaluru
Ecology and Evolution (EY)
Q.4 Which one of the given options is a possible value of x in the following sequence?
(A) 35
(B) 40
(C) 45
(D) 31
Q.5 On a given day, how many times will the second-hand and the minute-hand of a
clock cross each other during the clock time 12:05:00 hours to 12:55:00 hours?
(A) 51
(B) 49
(C) 50
(D) 55
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Q.6 In the given text, the blanks are numbered (i)−(iv). Select the best match for
all the blanks.
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Q.7 Three distinct sets of indistinguishable twins are to be seated at a circular table that
has 8 identical chairs. Unique seating arrangements are defined by the relative
positions of the people.
How many unique seating arrangements are possible such that each person is sitting
next to their twin?
(A) 12
(B) 14
(C) 10
(D) 28
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Organizing Institute: IISc Bengaluru
Ecology and Evolution (EY)
Q.8 The chart given below compares the Installed Capacity (MW) of four power
generation technologies, T1, T2, T3, and T4, and their Electricity Generation
(MWh) in a time of 1000 hours (h).
11000 55
Which one of the given technologies has the highest Capacity Factor?
(A) T1
(B) T2
(C) T3
(D) T4
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Organizing Institute: IISc Bengaluru
Ecology and Evolution (EY)
Q.9 In the 4 × 4 array shown below, each cell of the first three columns has either a
cross (X) or a number, as per the given rule.
Rule: The number in a cell represents the count of crosses around its immediate
neighboring cells (left, right, top, bottom, diagonals).
As per this rule, the maximum number of crosses possible in the empty column is
(A) 0
(B) 1
(C) 2
(D) 3
Page 7 of 46
Organizing Institute: IISc Bengaluru
Ecology and Evolution (EY)
Q.10 During a half-moon phase, the Earth-Moon-Sun form a right triangle. If the
Moon-Earth-Sun angle at this half-moon phase is measured to be 89.85°, the ratio
of the Earth-Sun and Earth-Moon distances is closest to
(A) 328
(B) 382
(C) 238
(D) 283
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Organizing Institute: IISc Bengaluru
Ecology and Evolution (EY)
Page 9 of 46
Organizing Institute: IISc Bengaluru
Ecology and Evolution (EY)
Q. 13 A few years ago, a very small population of zebrafish became isolated by a newly
built dam. As a result, which statement is most likely to be true about this
population of zebrafish now?
Q.14 A researcher measures the heights of 200 randomly selected individuals of a tree
species in a forest. Which one of the following is NOT a measure of variability in
the sample?
(B) Range
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Organizing Institute: IISc Bengaluru
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(A) Imitation.
(B) Imprinting.
(C) Habituation.
(D) Sensitisation.
(A) amphibians.
(B) birds.
(C) fishes.
(D) mammals.
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Q. 18 In a population, there are two morphs, A and B, which reproduce at equal rates.
A mutates to B with probability 𝑝1, and B mutates to A with probability 𝑝2 such
that 𝑝1 ≫ 𝑝2 (that is, 𝑝1 is much greater than 𝑝2 ). Over time, which one of the
following statements would be true about this population?
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Q. 19 Terrestrial plants conduct gas exchange through stomata. Having only few
stomata on the leaf surface is a common adaptation to which one of the following
conditions?
(B) High pH
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(A) p-value.
(B) F-statistic.
(C) t-statistic.
Which one of the factors given is the primary reason for the sudden increase in
atmospheric CO2 concentration after 1950?
(A) Overfishing
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Q. 25 The population size at which net recruitment is the highest is also when the
greatest amount can be harvested, while ensuring the long-term survival of the
population. The amount harvested at this population size is known as
(A) Monogamy
(C) Polyandry
(D) Polygyny
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Q. 27 Some air-breathing marine vertebrates such as whales, seals and marine turtles
possess adaptations for long, deep dives. Which one or more of the following
is/are examples of such adaptations?
Q. 28 Which one or more of the following statements about evolution is/are true?
(D) Evolution occurs through natural selection, but not sexual selection.
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Q. 29 Which one or more of the following mammal species is/are endemic to India?
(D) Cheetah
Q. 30 Under which one or more of the following conditions can altruism evolve in
animal societies?
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Q. 31 Two species of fruit bats (Species 1 and Species 2) eat fruits of varying sizes. The
curves shown represent the ecological niche for these two species. If the curves
for both species were to completely overlap, which one or more of the statements
given would be correct?
(B) One of the species may become extinct due to competitive exclusion.
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(B) Keystone species must establish first to facilitate the later establishment of higher
trophic level species.
(C) Trees are the climax stage of terrestrial communities and generally have low
competitive ability, but high dispersal ability.
(D) For many taxa, there is a tradeoff between dispersal ability and local competitive
ability.
Q. 33 An ornamental shrub species was brought from Japan in the early 1800s to India,
where it was planted frequently in gardens and parks. The species persisted for
many decades without spreading, and then began to spread invasively fifty years
ago. Which one or more of the following processes could have led to it becoming
invasive?
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Organizing Institute: IISc Bengaluru
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Q. 34 Male voles pair with either a single female (monogamous) or with two females
(polygynous) during a given breeding season. The probability of a male being
polygynous in a breeding season is 0.2. The reproductive success (number of
offspring) of monogamous males is 2, and of polygynous males is 3. A male’s
expected reproductive success in a breeding season is ____________________.
(Round off to one decimal place)
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Organizing Institute: IISc Bengaluru
Ecology and Evolution (EY)
Q.36 Observations of algal species showed that their diversity was higher in pools
where there were grazing snails compared to pools without snails. Which one of
the following statements best explains this result?
(D) Snails feed equally on all the algal species irrespective of algal abundance.
Q.37 Which two of the following processes can result in a decline in heterozygosity in
populations?
(A) I and II
(D) II and IV
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Select the option that best matches each ecological observation with its
corresponding process.
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Assuming that all samples are normally distributed, which one of the following
options represents the most appropriate statistical tests for (i) and (ii),
respectively?
(B) (i) Wilcoxon’s matched pairs signed rank test; (ii) chi-squared test
Q.40 Males of the swordtail fish Xiphophorus helleri possess long tails, while those of
X. maculatus do not. Females of X. helleri prefer males with longer tails.
Interestingly, experimental studies show that females of X. maculatus prefer
X. maculatus males with attached artificial long tails over those without.
If the long-tailed Xiphophorus species evolved from ancestors that lacked a long
tail, which one of the following processes best explains the evolution of the
observed preference among X. maculatus females?
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Q.41 Which one of the options given best matches vector to disease?
Vector Disease
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Q.42 Optimal foraging theory predicts whether a foraging animal will be risk-prone,
risk-averse or risk-insensitive depending on a utility function that describes the
value of each additional food item to the animal. Risk-prone foraging is expected
when the utility increases disproportionately with each additional food item
encountered. Which one of the graphs shown depicts a scenario where risk-prone
foraging would be expected?
(A) P
(B) Q
(C) R
(D) S
Page 26 of 46
Organizing Institute: IISc Bengaluru
Ecology and Evolution (EY)
Q.43 There are two species, X and Y, with abundances 𝑥 and 𝑦, respectively. Species X
has growth rate 𝛼, and species Y has growth rate 𝛽. Assume that the sum of the
species abundances is constant over time, i.e., 𝑥 + 𝑦 = 1. Let 𝑥 and 𝑦 follow the
rate equations:
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑦
= 𝛼𝑥 − 𝜑𝑥, = 𝛽𝑦 − 𝜑𝑦,
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡
where 𝜑 is the average species fitness.
Which one of the following options correctly represents the expression for 𝜑?
(A) 𝛼𝑥 2 + 𝛽𝑦 2
𝛼+𝛽
(B) 𝛼𝑥 + 𝛽𝑦
(C) 𝛼𝑥 + 𝛽𝑦
𝑥2 + 𝑦2
(D) 1
𝛼𝑥 + 𝛽𝑦
Page 27 of 46
Organizing Institute: IISc Bengaluru
Ecology and Evolution (EY)
Q.44 The graphs shown represent the relationship between population size (𝑁) and
𝑑𝑁
population growth rate ( ). Which one of the following growth curves
𝑑𝑡
represents a density-dependent population that experiences a strong Allee effect?
(A) P
(B) Q
(C) R
(D) S
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Organizing Institute: IISc Bengaluru
Ecology and Evolution (EY)
Q.45 The abundance (X) of a plant species with respect to the anthropogenic stressor
habitat destruction (h) is shown. The solid and the dashed curves represent stable
and unstable population equilibrium abundances, respectively.
In the absence of any stochasticity, and with increasing values of h, what is the
value of h at which a sudden population collapse would occur?
(A) 2.5
(B) 2
(C) 4
(D) 3
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Q.46 Consider the graph shown, where S is species richness and A is area. S and A are
log-transformed and the slope is not equal to 1.
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Q.47 The graph shows the rank-abundance relationships for species in three
communities, P, Q and R.
Which one of the following statements is true with respect to the evenness of the
three communities?
(A) P>Q>R
(B) Q>P>R
(C) R>Q>P
(D) R>P>Q
Page 31 of 46
Organizing Institute: IISc Bengaluru
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Q.48 The graph shows bird species richness in a large contiguous forest patch and a
small adjacent forest fragment, before and soon after the large contiguous forest
patch was replaced by an oil palm plantation.
Which one of the following options best explains the pattern shown?
(A) The contiguous forest is a sink and the forest fragment is a source for bird species.
(B) The forest fragment has higher species richness than the contiguous forest.
(D) The contiguous forest was contributing to forest fragment species richness via
dispersal.
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Q.49 Honey bees are haplodiploid, which means that the relatedness is, on average,
expected to be 0.75 between
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II Octopuses Q Gastropod
IV Squids
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Q.51 A terrestrial species P is found in both India and West Africa and nowhere else,
while a marine species Q is found in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. The
two species have similar generation times. An ecologist builds haplotype networks
based on DNA sequences from these species, where each circle represents one
haplotype and each dash (−) represents a mutation. Which one of the following
inferences is best supported by the haplotype networks shown?
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Q.52 Grey langurs found in the southern Western Ghats (SWG) and grey langurs in
Sri Lanka (SL) look very similar. Nilgiri langurs (found in SWG) and purple faced
langurs (found in SL) also look similar. If allopatry played a role in the early
diversification of this group (at point x in the tree), which one of the phylogenetic
trees is most likely to be correct?
(A) P
(B) Q
(C) R
(D) S
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(A) Methane
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Q.55 Males of the Indian robin in two populations sing songs of different lengths.
Which one or more of the options given is/are an ultimate (not proximate)
explanation(s) of the difference in song length between the two populations?
(A) Females prefer to mate with males that sing longer songs in one population but not
in the other.
(B) The two populations have different forms of the gene that determines song
duration.
(C) The two populations differ in hormone levels that activate the start and end of
singing behaviour.
Page 38 of 46
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Q.56 Female Anopheles mosquitoes bite humans to get blood. Researchers performed an
experiment to study whether females use temperature or scent cues, or both, when
locating human hosts. They presented female mosquitoes with membranes kept at
different temperatures. Some membranes also had human scent applied to them.
The response to each treatment was measured as the percentage of females that
landed on the membrane (50 females for each treatment). The table shows the
treatments and the corresponding responses.
Which one or more of the following inferences is/are supported by these results?
(C) Human body temperature cues are necessary to locate human hosts.
(D) Human body temperature cues are sufficient to locate human hosts.
Page 39 of 46
Organizing Institute: IISc Bengaluru
Ecology and Evolution (EY)
Q.57 A phylogenetic tree for the evolution of two pigmentation traits in species of fish
is shown for clades X, Y and Z. Genes A and/or B, if mutated, can cause dark
pigmentation in the body.
(C) The character state “pigmentation” is not homologous for species 6 and 7.
(D) The character state “pigmentation” is not homologous between species 2 and 6.
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(A) the population size required to avoid local extinction in the next 1000 years.
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Q.59 In the foodweb diagrams shown, R represents the primary producer, C1 and C2
represent intermediate consumers, and P represents the top predator. Which one or
more of these diagrams show(s) intraguild predation?
(A) E
(B) F
(C) G
(D) H
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Q.60 You are a plant ecologist studying a plant in the genus Veronica. You notice that,
at open rocky sites, Veronica grows as a creeper spreading low to the ground,
whereas in grasslands, the stem stands upright. You collect seeds from multiple
populations in each habitat type and grow them under uniform conditions in a
greenhouse. You find that all the plants grown in the greenhouse have stems that
stand upright. Which one or more of the following explanations best support(s)
your observations?
(A) The different morphologies in the natural habitat types are due to phenotypic
plasticity.
(B) Inbreeding depression has led to the creeping form in the rocky sites.
(C) High gene flow between populations has restricted local adaptation in the two
environments.
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Organizing Institute: IISc Bengaluru
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Q.61 One hypothesis for why the tropics have far greater species richness than higher
latitudes is that the tropics are relatively aseasonal. Low seasonality can encourage
high species richness through which one or more of the following mechanisms?
(A) Numerous resources are consistently available throughout the year, allowing
different species to specialize on different resources, thereby minimizing
competition and allowing co-existence.
(B) Low seasonality is associated with lower rates of predation, allowing large
populations to thrive.
(C) Low seasonality is associated with more stable populations that are less vulnerable
to demographic stochasticity and extinction.
(D) Low seasonality is associated with longer generation times, which enhances
species richness.
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Organizing Institute: IISc Bengaluru
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Q.62 The figure illustrates the soil zinc tolerance of the grass species Anthoxanthum
along a transect from inside a mine to the middle of a pasture outside the mine.
Which one or more of the following processes explain(s) the observed pattern of
zinc tolerance in this grass species?
(C) Coevolution
(D) Introgression
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Organizing Institute: IISc Bengaluru
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Q.63 In a forest, there are tigers, hare, and deer. On a given day, the probability of a
tiger hunting a hare is 0.35, a deer is 0.25, and either a hare or a deer is 0.55. The
probability of a tiger hunting both a hare and a deer on a given day is __________.
(Round off to two decimal places).
Q.64 Consider a discrete random variable X that takes values from the set
S = {0, 1, 2, 3}, being the number of individuals of a species within a habitat.
Consider the probability distribution of X with Pr(X = 0) = 0.15,
Pr(X = 1) = 0.25 and Pr(X = 3) = 0.5, where Pr denotes probability. The value of
Pr(X = 2) is _______. (Round off to two decimal places)
Q. 65 There are nine species of Impatiens (balsams) found in laterite plateaus of the
northern Western Ghats, each with a distinct colour. If a plateau has exactly 6
species, then the number of possible colour combinations in the plateau is
__________. (Answer in integer)
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