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JAMB UTME Biology 2016 past questions and answers

This 2016 JAMB UTME Biology set has 40 practice questions. Try these 5 free sample questions, tap a question to reveal the answer and explanation. Then practise the whole 2016 set with instant marking.

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Sample JAMB UTME Biology 2016 questions

1. A desert plant has leaves reduced to spines and a thick, fleshy stem; which combination of functions best explains these features?
  1. The spines increase transpiration while the stem stores oxygen
  2. The spines reduce water loss while the stem stores water
  3. The spines absorb soil water while the stem prevents photosynthesis
  4. The spines store food while the stem increases water loss

Answer: B. The spines reduce water loss while the stem stores water

Reduced leaves limit transpiration, while the fleshy stem stores water for dry periods.

2. In a population of insects, a few individuals are resistant to an insecticide before it is used; after repeated spraying, resistant insects become common mainly because they
  1. develop resistance in response to the chemical and pass it on immediately
  2. are protected from predators by the insecticide
  3. change their genes by choice
  4. survive and reproduce more successfully than susceptible insects

Answer: D. survive and reproduce more successfully than susceptible insects

The insecticide selects pre-existing resistant individuals, which leave more offspring.

3. Which observation provides the most direct evidence that organisms living in the past differed from many living today?
  1. A fossil of an extinct animal preserved in sedimentary rock
  2. A living animal feeding at night
  3. A plant producing seeds in a dry season
  4. A bacterium dividing by binary fission

Answer: A. A fossil of an extinct animal preserved in sedimentary rock

Fossils preserve remains or traces of organisms that lived in earlier geological periods.

4. Two populations of the same bird species become separated by a mountain range and, over many generations, can no longer interbreed when they meet; this outcome is best described as
  1. ecological succession
  2. artificial selection
  3. speciation following reproductive isolation
  4. continuous variation

Answer: C. speciation following reproductive isolation

Long-term isolation can allow populations to diverge until they form reproductively distinct species.

5. Which human characteristic is generally an example of continuous variation influenced by several genes and the environment?
  1. ABO blood group
  2. Body height
  3. Ability to roll the tongue
  4. Biological sex

Answer: B. Body height

Height varies across a continuous range and is affected by many genes as well as environmental conditions.

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