Question

Descent with modification is the basis of which theory?
A. Recapitulation theory
B. Oparin’s theory
C. Theory of organic evolution
D. Cell theory

Answer 1

This theory was first proposed by Charles Darwin. This theory proposed that the complexities in plants and animals are the result of evolution from simpler forms that existed earlier by ultimate changes.

Complete Answer:
- Descent with modification means that the features are transmitted from generation to generation and often change or improve over time.
- The recapitulation theory, often referred to as the biogenetic law or embryological parallelism, frequently articulated with the term "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny" of Ernst Haeckel, is a historical theory that the development of a human embryo goes through stages similar to or represents successive adult stages in the evolution of the animal's distant development.
- The hypothesis of Oparin-Haldane suggests that life proceeds gradually from inorganic molecules with building blocks such as amino acids which first form and then combine to form complicated polymers.
- The hypothesis of organic evolution is that recent types of plants and animals originate with other pre-existing forms and that the variations between ancestors and descendants are due to changes over the successive generations.
- Cell theory is the now widely accepted historic scientific theory that living organisms consist of cells that form the fundamental structural unit for all organisms and that all cells come from existing cells.

Thus, the correct answer is option C. i.e., Theory of organic evolution.

Note: The word "descent" is generally correlated with human evolution, but it is also a more general term than this would imply. Simply put, descending with changes implies that characteristics are transmitted from generation to generation and shift or change with time. The natural selection or even a mutation of DNA causes those changes.