TIFR GS 2026 Question Paper Wildlife Biology and Conservation

FOR TIFR GS EXAM PREPARATION

TIFR GS 2026
Question Paper ·
Biology
EXAM YEAR TYPE SUBJECT DETAILS

TIFR GS 2026 Question Paper Biology Wildlife Conservation

Notes · Sample Papers · Previous Year Papers · Mock Tests

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a Entrance Exam
GS 2026: MSc Wildlife Biology and Conservation

Held on December 14th, 2025

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em are multiple choice questions. Each question has only ONE glas
All questions in SECTIONS A (General), B (Quantitative) and C (Wildlife and
ConservationsScience)
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correct or answer. All questions carry ONE mark. There is NO negative marking.
There are a total of 75 questions for a maximum of 75 marks.

Section D has an Essay type question. The essay carries 25 marks. The word limit for
the essay is 750 words.
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However, to qualify for your essay to be graded, you must score a minimum of 50% in
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each of Sections A, B and C.
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You are allowed a maximum of 3 hours for the exam (estimating about 2 hours and 15
minutes for Sections A, B and C and 45 minutes for Section D).

Please note:
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c. oused/operated: Ctrl+C (Copy), Ctrl+X (Cut) and Ctrl+V (Paste) [Accidental m
While

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otherwise--use of the keys will lead to erasing of the text alreadygtyped
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ag and this cannot be retrieved].

Therefore, it is useful to plan your essay before you type it in

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Sec on A
1. Who did the Indian women’s team beat in the nals to li the ODI Cricket World Cup for
the rst me?

A. Australia
B. England
C. New Zealand
D. South Africa

2. Ramesh goes bird watching to Nandi Hills every Sunday where there is a 20% chance of
spo ng the much sought a er Nilgiri Wood Pigeon. He meets Suresh at NCBS and tells him
that he saw the Nilgiri Wood Pigeon four Sundays in a row. Suresh is astonished and says
that it is very improbable. Calculate the probability of Ramesh’s claim.

A. 0.0016%
B. 0.16%
C. 0.8%
D. 80%

3. The southwest monsoon of India is so called because:

A. Most of the monsoon rain falls in the southwestern part of India
B. Monsoon winds blow towards the southwest
C. Monsoon winds blow from the southwest
D. It originates in the southwestern part of the Arabian Peninsula

4. Who among the following is a leading public voice highligh ng threats to the local ecology
and tribal communi es of the Nicobar Islands from a proposed shipping port project?

A. Medha Patkar
B. Pankaj Sekhsaria
C. Sonali Ghosh
D. Ullas Karanth

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a have been entering a
5. Over the past year, elephants that dwell in the nearby forests
human se lement with greater regularity than ever before. Some farmers in the
se lement began producing bananas for the rst me a li le over a year ago. Elephants
nd bananas very palatable. Therefore, the reason why elephants are coming into the
se lement with greater frequency is that they are coming to eat the bananas produced
by these farmers.

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Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
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A. A year ago, aenumber
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the rstlame and jackfruits are a favorite food of elephants. ag
ag living in the se lement have become very wary and watchful because of the
B . People
increased presence of the elephants.
C. The owners of the se lement’s banana planta ons have reported seeing elephants
raiding their crop.
D. Elephants prefer bananas because they are high in both sugar and calories.

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6. The sum of ages of Seeta and Geeta is 12 years less than the sum of ages of Geeta and
Neeta. By how many years is Neeta older than Seeta?
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A. 10
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B. 12
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C. 15
D. 18
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7. Which of the following sentences is most gramma cally correct?

A. The scien st claimed that the new species was discovered accidentally while hiking
and that its gene c makeup is unlike any other known organism.
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B. The scien st claimed that the new species was discovered accidentally while hiking, and
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its gene c makeup to be unlike any other known organism.
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C. The scien st claimed that while hiking, the new species was accidentally discovered and

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its gene c makeup unlike any other known organism.
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D. The scien st claimed that the new species was accidentally discovered while hiking, and
a unlike any other known organism.

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8. Compared to colder air, ho er air:

A. Can hold more water vapor
B. Contains more carbon dioxide
C. Occupies a smaller space
D. Stays closer to the ground

9.

How many squares are in the picture above

A 40
B 45
C 50
D 55

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a found in: euglossine bees,
10. The gure below shows the overlap of vola le compounds
orchids that they pollinate and non-orchids that they visit but do not pollinate.

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Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE given this information?
A. The number of volatile compounds that bees have in common with orchids is less than
those in common with non-orchids.
B. Orchid and non-orchid plants share the majority of the volatile compounds they
produce.

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C. The majority of the volatile compounds in bees are shared with those in plants.

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D. The majority of the volatile compounds produced by the orchids are found in the bees.
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getting back home to Bengaluru she found out that this sundial clock
a the time. This is because:

A. Geneva and Bengaluru are at different altitudes
B. Geneva and Bengaluru are at different latitudes
C. Geneva and Bengaluru have different climate zones
D. There is not enough sunshine in Bengaluru

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12. It was a cloudy evening. The storm clouds were rolling in and the thunder was deafening.
The rain began to fall in a steady drizzle, as the winds blew in over the dark blue waters of
the lagoon. Toor ran out of the cabin, beckoning to Masoor to join her for a walk along the
shore. Masoor came out onto the cabin porch, shaking her head and said “No, I’ll stay here, I
am under the weather”. She most likely meant that:

A. She did not have an umbrella and would be under the stormy weather
B. She did not like the rainy weather
C. She was feeling unwell
D. The weather was making her feel unwell

13. Rana and Tara were two young engineers-turned-ecologists who were interested in
building a ordable and sturdy eld equipment for ecologists. Using locally sourced
materials, they managed to build cost-e ec ve acous c recorders to study birdsong in
remote habitats. They also _____________an e cient method to deploy these recorders in
the canopy. One year later, the analyses of data from their _________are providing
fascina ng insights into birdsong from remote mountain habitats.

Choose the correct pair of words to ll in the above blanks:

A. deviced, devices
B. deviced, devises
C. devised, devices
D. devised, devises

14. Read the following paragraph which has a blank sentence in it.
In the Indonesian islands, Kopi Luwak is made from co ee beans that have passed through
the diges ve tracts of civets that eat them. This gourmet co ee is in high demand globally
and fetches very high prices on the co ee market. Some farms source this co ee by
searching their co ee planta on and surrounding forests for seeds that have been defecated
by free-ranging civets. Others keep civets in cap vity, feed them co ee beans in large
quan es and then collect the seeds once they are defecated. The la er prac ce has been
labelled as unethical by animal welfare groups. _____________________________
______________________________________________________ . In order to examine
these claims, compara ve data on the physiology and longevity of cap ve civets in Kopi
Luwak farms versus free-ranging civets are urgently needed.

From among the op ons given below, choose the most logical sentence to ll in the blank
space:

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A. This claim stems from the supers on that these cap veacivets bring bad luck to the
family that keeps them.
B. These groups have raised concerns that civets in these cap ve condi ons have a poor
quality of life, are unhealthy and o en die early as a result of being overfed.
C. These groups have claimed that civets in these cap ve condi ons live very long lives.
D. These groups claim that cap ve civet popula ons in the farm are needed for the
conserva on of the species.
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15. Which of the following words best captures the opposite in meaning of “abandon”?
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A. Adopt gl
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B. Adapta
C. Agree
D. Accede

16. Warming temperatures across the globe have resulted in the spread of many species
towards the poles, resulting in many species now being found in regions that they have
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never been in before. An example of this is the recent discovery of mosquitoes in:

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B. Iceland
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D. Thailand

17. Five people live above one another in ve ats. Aniv must go above to meet his friend
Ishan. Rekha is equally friendly to all and has to go up as frequently as down. Hema has to
go up to meet her friend Nived above whose at lives Ishan. In what order do the ve
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D. Hema, Aniv, Rekha, Ishan, Nived

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18. You intend to a ach color ear-tags to Royle's pikas for your study on their wintering
behavior. On each individual, you plan to put one ear-tag on each ear. If you have orange,
blue, red, green, yellow, and purple tags, how many individuals can you mark with a unique
color combina on?

A. 6
B. 12
C. 36
D. 72

19. Makena, who lives in Tanzania, leaves her home and walks 300 meters in the North-west
direc on. Then, she moves 300 meters in the South-west direc on. Next, she walks 300
meters in the South-east direc on. Finally, she turns to return home. Which direc on is
Makena facing?

A. North-east
B. North-west
C. South-east
D. South-west

20. In Japanese Shinto wisdom, the monks believe that when there are intense, destruc ve
typhoons in the winter, the Sakura (cherry) trees bloom especially abundantly in the spring
that follows. Which of the following commonly used English sayings best captures this
wisdom?

A. It is always calm in the eye of the storm.
B. Make hay while the sun shines.
C. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
D. When it rains, it pours.
---End of Sec on A---

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Sec on B

21. Which of the following has the smallest perimeter, if all the shapes have the same area?
A. Circle
B. Equilateral triangle
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C. Rectangle
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D. Square
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22. Here is laagraph in which tree adult height is plo ed against seed length for tree species
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ag rainforest. Which of the following statements best describes the pa ern in the
in an Indian
gure?
Tree height (m)

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Seed length (cm)

A. Small-seeded species are typically short as adults, while large-seeded ones might either
be short or tall
B. Small-seeded species might be short or tall as adults, while large-seeded ones are
typically tall
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C. There is no rela onship between seed length and tree adult height .co
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23. If two fair dice are rolled and their values are summed, what is the probability of the sum
being greater than 7?

A. 0.17
B. 0.33
C. 0.42
D. 0.663

24. In the x-y plane, point P has coordinates (1,2) and point Q has coordinates (4,6).
What is the distance between point P and point Q?

A. 3
B. 4
C. 5
D. 6

25. An institution wants an arch for the entrance to its campus. The pro le of the arch
follows the equation y = 2x – 0.1x2 where y is the height of the arch in meters. The
maximum possible height of the arch is

A. 8
B. 10
C. 12
D. 14

26. Ronith covers half of the distance to his eld site by train at 60 km/h, half of the
remainder by bus at 30 km/h and the rest by elephant at 10 km/h. The average speed of
Ronith in km/h during his entire journey is:
A. 18
B. 24
C. 30
D. 36

27. Deepak was counting the number of hornbills coming to roost on a tree by the Pakke
river. After 100 days of observation, Deepak had counted a minimum of 25 and
maximum of 125 hornbills per day. On the 101st day of observation, 200 hornbills came
to the roost. Which statistic is MOST a ected by this outlier?

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A. Interquartile range a
B. Mean
C. Median
D. Mode

28. Prashant conducts a mark–recapture study on a population of freshwater turtles in
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the NCBS pond. On the rst sampling occasion, he captures and marks 12 turtles. In
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the second sampling occasion, he catches 15 turtles, of which 3 are marked. Assuming
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a closed population and that all individuals have equal capture probability, what is the
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best estimate of the total population size of turtles in the NCBS pond?
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A. 30 ag
B. 40
C. 60
D. 70

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29. For a hermit crab, the probability of nding a shell that is appropriately sized is 0.005.

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The probability that any shell is already occupied is 0.2. Therefore, in an inter dal shore with
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40,000 shells the number of unoccupied appropriately sized shells for a hermit crab is
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A. 16
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B. 40 a
C. 160
D. 240

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30. In an experiment, a marine biologist applied different nutrient addition treatments to
determine limitations to primary productivity in marine systems. The productivity of their
experimental treatments expressed as percentage of the control were as below:

Treatment Response

Control with no additions 100%

Nitrogen (N) + Phosphorous (P) 99%

N + P + iron + trace metals 230%

N + P + iron 225%

Iron 99%

From the above results one can conclude that:

A. Iron is necessary but not sufficient for doubling productivity
B. Iron is necessary and sufficient for doubling productivity
C. Iron is sufficient but not necessary for doubling productivity
D. Iron is neither necessary nor sufficient for doubling productivity

31. Which one of the following op ons represents measures of spread of observa ons in a
sample?

A. Range and standard devia on
B. Range and standard error of the mean
C. Standard devia on and 95% con dence interval of the mean
D. Standard error of the mean and 95% con dence interval of the mean

32. In a popula on, a locus has two alleles, A and a whose frequencies, p and q respec vely,
are at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The frequencies (p2, 2pq and q2) of the three genotypes
(AA, Aa and aa respec vely) are expected to remain constant from genera on to genera on;
and p2 + 2pq + q2 = 1. In this popula on, if the frequency of the genotype AA is 0.16, what is
the frequency of the other homozygote aa?

A. 0.16
B. 0.36
C. 0.48
D. 0.84

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a helpers contribu ng to
33. In a mammal popula on, 20% of adult females have juvenile
taking care of o spring while 80% do not. During a breeding season, females without
helpers only produce, on average, 2.5 o spring that successfully survive and leave the nest;
whereas females with helpers produce 6 o spring that successfully leave the nest. The mean
reproduc ve success (mean number of o spring that successfully leave the nest) for a
female in a breeding season is:

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B. 3.2
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C. 5.3
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D. 6.0
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34. A research team wishes to test how individuals in groups respond to a s mulus. They
have 8 di erent sh and plan to test them in groups of 3. How many di erent unique groups
of 3 sh are possible?

A. 56
B. 120
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C. 240

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D. 336
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increase by _______________ percent. a g
35. If a farmer doubles the length and breadth

A. 100
B. 200
C. 300
D. 400

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. 18,000
c. o36. e
of INR
a variable cost of INR 42 for every litre of milk processed. The facilitysprocesses
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2,000 litres of milk a day. What price should Bateilang set per litre of milk

ag make a profit of INR 30 per litre?

A. 51
B. 64
C. 72
D. 81

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37. The sum of x% of y, and y% of x is

A. 2% of xy
B. (x + y)% of xy
C. (x + y)% of 2
D. xy% of (x + y)

38. David Lack's principle proposes that op mal clutch size is the one that maximizes the
number of o spring that parents can raise successfully. The clutch size (N) and survival of
o spring (p) for parents in a study is shown below. According to Lack’s principle, what is the
op mal clutch size?

N p

2 0.5

4 0.4

6 0.3

8 0.2

10 0.1

A. 2
B. 4
C. 6
D. 10

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39. To assess the response of male and female lizards to twoatypes of predators, a researcher
presented either a model of a hawk at a standardized height, or a dog, to individual male
and female lizards on their territories. Each lizard received both treatments, the order was
randomized, and the treatments were presented three days apart. The an -predator
response was recorded as the me the lizard spent in the refuge. The graph below shows
the mean and 95% con dence interval in the me spent in the refuge for males (squares)
and females (triangles) with the two predator types. Which one of the following conclusions
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is least supported by this graph?
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A. Each sex responds more strongly to the dog model than the hawk model
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B. For each predator type, males always respond more strongly than females
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C. Females spend more me in the refuge when presented with a dog than with a hawk
model
D. The di erence between the response to the dog versus the hawk model is greater for
males than for females

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40. A popula on shows the following pa ern in popula on size (N) over genera ons (t),
which is a quadra c func on of the form N = a + bt – ct2; where a, b and c are constants. The
growth rate of this popula on from t = 1 to t = 100 is maximum at:

A. t = 1
B. t = 100/4
C. t = 100/2
D. t = 100

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a of species in a community)
41. Researchers seeking to es mate species richness (number
use species accumula on curves to assess whether a community has been sampled
su ciently. A research team samples tree communi es in three di erent forest types in a
large landscape: teak planta on, wet forest, and dry forest. The graph below shows three
di erent species accumula on curves. Which of the following op ons is the most likely
match of curve to forest types?

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A. P = dry forest, Q = wet forest, R = teak
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B. P = dry forest, Q = teak, R = wet forest
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C. P = wet forest, Q = dry forest, R = teak
D. P = wet forest, Q = teak, R = dry forest

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42. Males of a beetle species grow horns that are used to ght for mates. Growing horns is
energe cally costly and probably depends on the size of the male; so, within a popula on,
smaller males are expected to grow smaller horns than larger males. This rela onship might
di er across popula ons because of di erences in resources or other factors that a ect horn
growth. A research team collects data from three di erent popula ons (P, Q and R). They
use linear regressions to analyze the rela onship between horn size and body size for each
popula on. Which of the following sta s cal inferences is least supported by the data and
output of regression analyses, shown below?

A. The change in horn size for a unit change in body size is greatest for Q and least for P
B. The change in horn size for a unit change in body size is greater in R than in P
C. The amount of varia on in horn size that is explained by body size is greatest in Q and
least in P
D. The amount of varia on in horn size that is explained by body size is greater in R than in Q

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43. An important reason to have a large sample size is to esamate the parameter of interest
with precision. When es ma ng the mean of a con nuous trait like body size, as we
increase sample size, we would expect successive es mates of the mean to deviate less from
each other. Assuming that the sampling is unbiased, which of the following graphs best
represents the pa ern in improved precision with an increase in sample size?

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A. P
B. Q
C. R
D. S

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44. In many species, morphological traits that act as weapons (e.g., jaw size, claws, antlers,
horns) show a pa ern of posi ve allometry. That is, among individuals ranging in body size
within a popula on, the size of the weapon is dispropor onately larger than expected given
the size of the body and follows the form Y = aXb where Y is weapon size, X is body size, a >
0, and b > 1. Which of the graphs below best represents posi ve allometry?

A. P
B. Q
C. R
D. S

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45. The sample mean and sample variance in tree height foraa dataset of 15 trees is 10 m
and 2 m2 respec vely. The research team discovered that one observa on was le out by
mistake. If we include the height of the 16th tree, which is 15 m, the corrected sample
variance, rounded to integer, is:

A. 1 m2
B. 3 m2
m
C. 5 m2
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D. 7 m2
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Sec on C
46. The Great Nicobar Island Development Project was sanc oned in 2021 and aims to build
an Interna onal Container Transshipment Terminal in the Galathea Bay. Many
anthropologists have raised concerns about the impact of this development on the na ve
tribes in the region, no ng that one of which has had minimal contact with the outside
world. Which tribes are these?

A. Nicobarese and the Great Andamanese
B. Nicobarese and Sen nelese
C. Nicobarese and Shompen
D. Sen nelese and Onge

47. As it gets warmer at lower eleva ons due to climate change, it has been theorized that
many low eleva on species are forced to move their ranges up the mountain to track their
preferred temperatures. Umesh went to the Himalayas to test this theory and over 15 years
he studied the yearly survival rates of birds. There were two groups of species, species X
which had the lower limit of their eleva onal range at 2000m (warm edge) and species Y
which had the upper limit of their eleva on range at 2000m (cold edge). If Umesh’s results
support this theory, what did he nd in terms of yearly survival rates of both types of species
at 2000m above sea level?

A. X and Y decreased
B. X increased and Y decreased
C. X and Y increased
D. X decreased and Y increased

48. Asia’s rst na onal park was established in 1936 and named a er Sir Malcolm Hailey
(Hailey Na onal Park). It was renamed to Ramganga Na onal Park in 1954, and then to its
current name in 1956. Iden fy this famous protected area.

A. Chitwan Na onal Park
B. Jim Corbe Na onal Park
C. Kaziranga Na onal Park
D. Sunderbans Na onal Park

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49. Consider this meline of a hypothe cal region in India: a
2020: Tau Devi Wildlife sanctuary (TDWLS) is created combining several village forests

2021: Camera traps reveal 3 female and 4 male gers in the north of the sanctuary

2022: En re TDWLS declared as Tau Devi (North) Tiger Reserve

2024: Four villages within TDWLS get community forest rights over nearby forest land
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2026: En re TWDLS is declared a cri cal ger habitat (CTH)
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Across this me period, select the op on that correctly describes the changing legal status
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of grazing by people from the four villages inside the forest:
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A. legal (—2020), legal (2020—22), illegal (2022—24), legal (2024—26), illegal a
(2026—)
B. legala(—2020), legal (2020—22), legal (2022—24), legal (2024—26), illegal (2026—)
C. legal (—2020), legal (2020—22), illegal (2022—24), illegal (2024—26), illegal (2026—)
D. legal (—2020), illegal (2020—22), legal (2022—24), illegal (2024—26), illegal (2026—)

Note: A or B are correct, depending on the core-bu er policy of the speci c ger-reserve.

50. Match the silhoue e/genus of frog with the habitat where they are *most* likely to be

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found. The diagnos c feature characteris c of the habitat is indicated on the silhoue e.
c
. 3 – Riparian; 4 – Aqua c
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Habitats: 1 – Fossorial; 2 – Arboreal;

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c. o A. E – 1; F – 2; G – 3; H – 4 m.co
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a C. E – 2; F – 1; G – 3; H – 4
D. E – 2; F – 1; G – 4; H – 3

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51. Tiger census es mates became more reliable a er camera trapping was used to iden fy
unique individuals based on stripe pa erns instead of pugmark Plaster-of-Paris casts.
However, all tools are prone to errors. Which of these three factors increase the error or
bias in the es mate of the number of gers for India?

i. censusing gers all year long instead of 1-3 months
ii. photographing both sides instead of only one side
iii. increasing the grid size between camera trap sta ons to twice the distance between
home range of two gers

A. i, ii and iii
B. i and ii
C. i and iii
D. ii and iii

52. Albizia amara, Chloroxylon swietenia, and Ziziphus xylopyrus are characteris c tree
species of which Indian ecoregion?

A. Deccan Thorn Scrub Forests

B. Himalayan subtropical pine forests

C. North Western Ghats montane rainforests

D. Mizoram-Manipur-Kachin rainforests

53. Which group of organisms in the Western Ghats comprises the highest percentage of
endemic species – i.e., species that are found only in the Western Ghats and nowhere else?

A. Amphibians
B. Bats
C. Birds
D. Terrestrial mammals

54. A recent study found which of these species has the lowest gene c diversity of all big
cat species?

A. Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)
B. Lion (Pantera leo)
C. Tiger (Panthera gris)
D. Snow leopard (Panthera uncia)

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a area under the Indian
55. Which of the following is NOT a legally designated protected
Wildlife Protec on Act 1972?

A. Biosphere Reserve
B. Na onal Park
C. Tiger Reserve
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D. Wildlife Sanctuary
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56. The term ‘Blue Carbon' refers to:
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A. Carbon emissions from industrial processes that turn water blue
B. Carbon
seagrasses
C. Carbon captured through ar cial intelligence-driven ocean fer liza on
D. Carbon footprint generated by shipping and mari me transport

57. Consider the following statements regarding India’s Na onal Red List Roadmap:
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1. It is a collabora ve e ort between the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Botanical

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Survey of India (BSI), and the Interna onal Union for Conserva on of Nature (IUCN)-
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India.
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2. The roadmap aims to create a na onal red-lis ng system aligned with the global
standards set by the Conven on on Biological Diversity (CBD).
3. The ini a ve will focus exclusively on the assessment of faunal diversity, excluding
ora and marine biodiversity.
4. One of the key features of the roadmap is the integra on of tradi onal knowledge
for biodiversity documenta on.

Which of the above statements are correct?
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A. 1,2
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D. 1,4

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58. The picture below shows a ring species, which consists of a connected series of
popula ons which can interbreed with their neighbors except at the extremes where they
cannot interbreed.

From the choices given below, ring species provide the most direct evidence for ______?

A. Ex nc on
B. Natural selec on
C. Sexual selec on
D. Specia on

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59. Organize the statements below into the following sequence:
Observa on – Hypothesis – Predic on
(I) Small mammals reduce ac vity to avoid predators when visibility is high.
(II) Small mammals are caught less frequently in traps on full-moon nights.
(III) If ar cial light is added on dark nights, capture rates should decrease.

A. (I)(II)(III)
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B. (II)(I)(III)
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C. (I)(III)(II)
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D. (III)(I)(II)
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60. Genomic data from Raorchestes frogs of the Western Ghats show many species are point
endemics, and are restricted to isolated montane “islands” (Nilgiris, Anamalai, Palani,
Agasthyamalai), even though the habitats in these mountain “islands” are very comparable.
Divergence mes fall within the late Pliocene–Pleistocene, and species distribu on models
show extremely narrow clima c tolerances.

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What process most likely drove this diversi ca on?
A. Adapta on to di erent breeding sites m .co
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B. Hybridiza on during interglacial periods

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C. Pleistocene clima c oscilla ons fragmen ng montane evergreen habitats
D. Vicariance caused by major river valleys

61. The following gure shows the bone structure of the limbs of a whale, a horse and a
human:
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These are examples of which type of structures?

A. analogous
B. convergent
C. homologous
D. ves gial

62. Match book to the author

D) M.K. Ranjitsinh 1) Wild Himalaya: A Natural History of the
Greatest Mountain Range on Earth

E) Ullas Karanth 2) A Life with Wildlife

F) Stephen Alter 3) The Wild Life of India

G) Edward Pritchard Gee 4) Among Tigers: Fighting to Bring Back
Asia's Big Cats

A. D3,E4,F1,G2

B. D2,E4,F1,G3

C. D1,E2,F4,G3

D. D2,E4,F2,G3

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63. Below are a list of 10 species and 10 protected areas: a
Species:
Lion-tailed Macaque, Nilgiri Tahr, Blackbuck, Red Panda, Asian Elephant, Snow Leopard,
One-horned Rhinoceros, Hoolock Gibbon, Great Hornbill, Tiger
Protected Areas:
Silent Valley National Park, Eravikulam National Park, Kaziranga National Park, Manas Tiger

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Reserve, Khangchendzonga National Park, Hemis National Park, Nagarhole Tiger Reserve,

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Velavadar Blackbuck National Park, Namdapha National Park, Periyar Tiger Reserve
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If you were askedm
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species, whichscombina on would you select? g l a
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A. Silent Valley NP, Kaziranga NP, Hemis NP, Velavadar NP
B. Eravikulam NP, Kaziranga NP, Manas TR, Hemis NP, Velavadar NP,
C. Silent Valley NP, Eravikulam NP, Kaziranga NP, Khangchendzonga NP, Velavadar NP
D. Silent Valley NP, Kaziranga NP, Namdapha NP, Velavadar NP

64. Current mean global temperatures are higher than pre-industrial times by
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A. 0.5 °C

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B. 1.5 °C
C. 2.5 °C
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D. 3.5 °C a

65. According to Mendel’s law of Independent Assortment, the inheritance of one trait is
una ected by other traits. Meghna tested this law in sun owers, but was surprised to nd
that the two traits she examined were not independently assorted. The most likely
explana on for this is
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A. nutrient deficiency in the experimental plants
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B. genetic linkage between the two traits studied

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C. the law only holds for pea plants
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D. segregation of the two alleles during gamete formation

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a 66. Which one of the following combina on of factors is likely to cause the greatest
reduc on in the gene c diversity of a popula on over me?
A. monogamous ma ng, large popula on size, equal adult sex ra o
B. monogamous ma ng, female-biased adult sex ra o, high immigra on rate
C. polygynous ma ng, large popula on size, high immigra on rate
D. polygynous ma ng, small popula on size, male-biased adult sex ra o

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67. Which species, found only in India, Bhutan and northern Myanmar, is best described as
having a small popula on size, a small geographic range and high habitat specializa on?

A. Bengal orican
B. Forest Owlet
C. Rufus-necked hornbill
D. White-bellied Heron

68. The disappearance of a popula on of an endangered species due to habitat loss does
not happen immediately but may occur genera ons a er the cri cal loss of habitat. This
delay is referred to as the

A. Ex nc on crisis
B. Ex nc on debt
C. Living dead
D. The lag phase

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69. A researcher studied the effect of neighbours on growthaof an endangered plant species.
He conducted an experiment at two sites that represented the lower and upper elevational
limits of this species. At each elevation, he had the following treatments: Control –
neighbours present; Removal – all neighbouring plants removed. He monitored growth of
the plants for one year and calculated the relative neighbour effect (RNE) as: RNE =
(Growth[Control] – Growth[Removal])/ Growth[Control]. The results are shown below,

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where the squares represent the mean, and the whiskers the standard error of RNE.

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Which of the following inferences are congruent with these results?

A. Competitive interactions between the endangered species and its neighbours dominate
at both low and high elevations
B. Competitive interactions between the endangered species and its neighbours dominate
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at high elevations
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D. Facilitative interactions between the endangered species and its neighbours dominate
a at high elevations

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70. The phylogene c rela onship between species l-q is shown below. Which of the
following statements is not true

A. M and N represent the most recent split and are the closest sister species
B. O and P are more closely related to each other than either with Q
C. The phylogene c distance between L and N is similar to that between O and Q
D. All six species have a common ancestor

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71. The size distribu on of mussels in a dal at is shown byathe black line below. The bar
graph shows the size distribu on of mussels eaten by oystercatchers (a type of bird). Which
of the following statements best agrees with the observed pa ern?

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A. The oystercatchers are selec ng the size of mussels propor onal to their availability.

a ally selec ng the largest mussels, which are also
B. The oystercatchers are preferen
most abundant.

C. The oystercatchers preferen ally select a certain intermediate size class.

D. The oystercatchers show no clear size preference when selec ng mussels

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72. Researchers sample three di erent amphibian communi es (L, M and N) and compare
their species diversity, using the Shannon-Weiner index, which combines both the number
of species and abundances of species. The same number of individuals is sampled in the
three communi es. The graphs below show the abundances of the di erent species in each
of the three di erent communi es. Based on these graphs, which of the op ons below
represents the correct ordering of communi es according to their species diversity?

A. L > M > N

B. M > N > L

C. N > L > M

D. L > N > M

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a a category that “cover at
73. A recent study that examined global land tenures described
least ~38 million km2 in 87 countries or poli cally dis nct areas across all inhabited
con nents, represen ng more than a quarter of the world’s land surface, and intersect with
~40% of all terrestrial protected areas and ecologically intact landscapes” (Garne et al.
2018). This category of land is known as

A. Biosphere reserves
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B. Indigenous people’s lands
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C. Ramsar sites
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D. Wilderness areas or wildlands
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74. Match

1. Poornima Devi Barman P. Conserva on of migratory Amur Falcon

2. Bano Haralu Q. Hornbill Nest Adop on Program

3. Ravi Sankaran R. Hargila Army for the conserva on of Greater
Adjutant Stork
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S. Conserva on of Edible Nest Swi let
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A. 1-R, 2-P, 3-S, 4-Q
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B. 1-Q, 2-P,3-R, 4-S

C. 1-S, 2-P, 3-R, 4-Q

D. 1-R, 2-Q,3-P,4-S

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75. In an ant–Acacia mutualism, Acacia trees provide ants with housing and food, and in
return the ants protect the trees from herbivores. A ten-year study that excluded large
herbivores by fencing o the trees found that trees inside the fences reduced the provision
of nectar and housing for ants (Palmer 2008). Which of the following inferences are
supported by these results?

1. Maintenance of mutualism is dependent on balance of costs and bene ts for each
partner.
2. Interac on with other species in uenced ant-plant mutualism.
3. Bio c factors did not in uence ant-plant mutualism.
4. Abio c factors in uenced the ant-plant mutualism.

A. 1 & 3
B. 2 & 3
C. 1 & 2
D. 2 & 4

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SECTION D a

Write an essay on ONE of the following topics. You are allowed a maximum of 750 words.
You will be scored on the content of the essay, clarity of thought, logic of arguments, ow of
text and wri ng clarity.

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TOPIC 1 m .co
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As natural habitats shrink and degrade further, human activities push deeper into
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wilderness areas, and climate change makes existing natural habitats less than optimal for

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some species, the human-wildlife interface has expanded, especially in the densely
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populated tropics. In this context in India, we hear increasing reports of crop-raiding of
fields and orchards by wildlife such as elephants, wild pigs, blackbuck, monkeys and bears.
Episodes of human-wildlife interactions including those with elephants, bears, tigers, lions
and leopards are much more frequently reported, often with negative outcomes for people
and wild animals involved.

Against this backdrop, what are the types of conservation policies and actions/interventions
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that might enable humans and wildlife, especially large dangerous animals, to co-exist

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peacefully (or at least cohabit with less conflict) in shared landscapes? What are the factors
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that you will take into consideration when thinking about this problem and making your

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recommendations? Please be sure to clearly explain your reasoning for the ideas that you

TOPIC 2
In India, conserva on e orts have tradi onally focused on charisma c megafauna like gers
and elephants, o en at the expense of lesser known but equally endangered species such as
amphibians, rep les, invertebrates, and endemic plants. Given the rapid loss of their habitat,
vulnerability to climate change, limited research funding, and gaps in long-term monitoring,
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c. oIn this context, what should be the primary na onal priori es to ensure their
msurvival and in .co
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s em developing a more equitable and scien cally sound conserva on strategy.
g l a Explore the role
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ini a ves, community involvement, and policy reforms.

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