AIIMS 2014
- Exam
- AIIMS
- Year
- 2014
- Subject
- Zoology
- Chapter
- Organisms and Populations
AIIMS 2014 · Zoology · Organisms and Populations
Assertion : Interspecific competition is the only potent force in...
Assertion : Interspecific competition is the only potent force in organic evolution.
Reason: Unexceptionally two closely related species competing for the same resources cannot co-exist indefinitely.
Options
- AIf both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
- BIf both assertion and reason are true but reason is not the correct explanation of assertion.
- CIf assertion is true but reason is false.
- DIf both assertion and reason are false.
Correct answer
D. If both assertion and reason are false.
Step-by-step solution
Darwin was convinced that interspecific competition is a potent force in organic evolution. It is generally believed that competition occurs when closely related species compete for the same resources that are limiting, but it is not entirely true. Totally unrelated species could also compete for the same resource. Gause's 'Competitive Exclusion Principle' states that two closely related species competing for the same resources cannot co-exist indefinitely and the competitively inferior one will be eliminated eventually. This may be true if resources are limiting, but not otherwise.