NEET UG · Biology · Evolution

Evidence for Evolution: NEET previous year questions

12 questions in ten years of NEET, in 7 of 10 papers. Pattern: Every year. Here is how it is asked and which ideas come back.

Asked in 10 years: 12; about 1.2 per paper
Years asked: 7/10; last asked 2026
Chance of a question next paper: 84%; historical rate, how we compute it
Weighted estimate: 1.4; model; history: 1.2 a paper on average, typically 0–3

Key findings

01
Asked in 7 of 10 papers, 12 questions in all: #53 of 204 topics by ten-year total. It comes back every 1.3 years on average.
02
83% of its questions since 2018 tested an idea never asked before; none repeated an idea from the year before.
03
The most repeated idea is Homologous Organs in Animals, asked 2 times (2022, 2026), usually as “select false statement on homology and analogy”.
04
NEET has asked 10 of the 89 ideas in this topic; 73 have never been asked, directly or indirectly.
05
Mostly asked as one-line MCQ (83%); 58% easy, 0% hard, and up from 1.0 to 1.6 questions a paper since 2024.

Questions per year

Up to 2023: 1.0; per paper
Since 2024: 1.6; +0.7
Usual gap: 1.3 yrs; between papers asking it
Swing: ±1.1; questions, year to year

Revise first

Homologous Organs in Animals (2022 2026); Convergent Evolution: Marsupials vs. Placentals (2026); Embryological Support (2026)

How it is asked

Difficulty, format and skill

Across all 12 questions on Evidence for Evolution since 2017.

Difficulty

QUESTIONS

Easy7 · 58%
Medium5 · 42%
Hard0 · 0%

Format

One-line MCQ · 10 Q83%
Assertion–reason · 1 Q8%
Other · 1 Q8%

Skill tested

Concept · 6 Q50%
Application · 3 Q25%
Recall · 3 Q25%

Repeats

New idea, or one asked before?

Each column is a paper. Blue questions tested an idea NEET had not asked before; navy ones went back to an idea from an earlier paper. 2017 is the first paper, so everything in it counts as new.

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26

Idea asked for the first time
Idea asked in an earlier paper

Coverage of the topic

NEET has asked 10 of the 89 ideas in this topic. 73 have never been asked yet.

1073

Asked directly10 · 11%
Touched inside another question6 · 7%
Never asked73 · 82%

Ideas come from Lumi’s syllabus map of NCERT. A never-asked idea is not a safe skip: most new questions come from exactly these.

Drill down

Idea, year, question

Every idea NEET tested in this topic, with its ten papers. Open one to read the questions.

ideaAskedShareYears’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26

Repeated2 · 17%17%2/10
- 2024 · Q177
  The flippers of the Penguins and Dolphins are the example of the:
  easyOne-line MCQ
- 2018 · Q177
  Among the following sets of examples for divergent evolution, select the incorrect option :
  mediumOne-line MCQNew idea
Repeated2 · 17%17%2/10
1 · 8%8%1/10
1 · 8%8%1/10
1 · 8%8%1/10
1 · 8%8%1/10
1 · 8%8%1/10
1 · 8%8%1/10
1 · 8%8%1/10
1 · 8%8%1/10

Squares are the ten papers, 2017 to 2026; darker means more questions. Share is of the level above.

Ideas

Every idea inside this topic

10 different ideas were tested; 2 came more than once. Adaptive Radiation: Australian Marsupials is the foundation for 8 other ideas in the syllabus.

Homologous Organs in Animals2×
select false statement on homology and analogy
Assertion–reason · 6% next · foundation for 2
Analogous Organs in Animals2×
odd-one-out among examples of homology
One-line MCQ · 6% next · foundation for 2
Convergent Evolution: Marsupials vs. Placentals1×
identify type of evolution from example
One-line MCQ · 6% next · foundation for 6
Embryological Support1×
identify option that is not evidence of evolution
One-line MCQ · 6% next · foundation for 5
Analogous Organs in Plants1×
identify evolutionary term for example
One-line MCQ · 6% next
Adaptive Radiation: Australian Marsupials1×
identify example of adaptive radiation
One-line MCQ · 4% next · foundation for 8
Evolution by Anthropogenic Action1×
count correct examples of anthropogenic evolution
Other · 4% next
Homology vs Analogy: Flipper Trap1×
identify evolutionary process from example
One-line MCQ · 4% next
Von Baer's Refutation of Biogenetic Law1×
identify scientist by contribution
One-line MCQ · 4% next
Homology in Forelimb Bones1×
identify evolutionary term for example
One-line MCQ · 4% next

Idea	Times	Format	Chance next	Foundation for
Homologous Organs in Animalsselect false statement on homology and analogy	2	Assertion–reasonConcept	6%	2 ideas
Analogous Organs in Animalsodd-one-out among examples of homology	2	One-line MCQConcept	6%	2 ideas
Convergent Evolution: Marsupials vs. Placentalsidentify type of evolution from example	1	One-line MCQConcept	6%	6 ideas
Embryological Supportidentify option that is not evidence of evolution	1	One-line MCQConcept	6%	5 ideas
Analogous Organs in Plantsidentify evolutionary term for example	1	One-line MCQApplication	6%	–
Adaptive Radiation: Australian Marsupialsidentify example of adaptive radiation	1	One-line MCQRecall	4%	8 ideas
Evolution by Anthropogenic Actioncount correct examples of anthropogenic evolution	1	OtherApplication	4%	–
Homology vs Analogy: Flipper Trapidentify evolutionary process from example	1	One-line MCQApplication	4%	–
Von Baer's Refutation of Biogenetic Lawidentify scientist by contribution	1	One-line MCQRecall	4%	–
Homology in Forelimb Bonesidentify evolutionary term for example	1	One-line MCQRecall	4%	–

Chance next is the historical rate at which an idea with this record came back in the following paper. It is low for every idea, which is why learning the topic beats memorising past questions. All repeated ideas

Every question

Evidence for Evolution questions, year by year

The opening words of each question as it appeared in the official paper, with the idea it tested.

NEET 20263 questions

Q159
Which of the following is not evidence for evolution ?
Idea: Embryological Support
New ideaMediumOne-line MCQ
Q164
Adaptive radiation in placental mammals and Australian Marsupials leading to similarity between distant species is an example of
Idea: Convergent Evolution: Marsupials vs. Placentals
New ideaEasyOne-line MCQ
Q170
Given below are two statements: one is labelled as Assertion A and the other is labelled as Reason R. Assertion A: Forelimbs of human and…
Idea: Homologous Organs in Animals
EasyAssertion–reason

NEET 20251 question

Q151
Sweet potato and potato represent a certain type of evolution. Select the correct combination of terms to explain the evolution.
Idea: Analogous Organs in Plants
New ideaEasyOne-line MCQ

NEET 20241 question

Q177
The flippers of the Penguins and Dolphins are the example of the:
Idea: Analogous Organs in Animals
EasyOne-line MCQ

NEET 20231 question

Q174
Select the correct group/set of Australian Marsupials exhibiting adaptive radiation.
Idea: Adaptive Radiation: Australian Marsupials
New ideaMediumOne-line MCQ

NEET 20221 question

Q193
Which of the following statements is not true ?
Idea: Homologous Organs in Animals
New ideaMediumOne-line MCQ

NEET 20203 questions

Q39
Embryological support for evolution was disapproved by :
Idea: Von Baer's Refutation of Biogenetic Law
New ideaEasyOne-line MCQ
Q44
Which of the following refer to correct example(s) of organisms which have evolved due to changes in environment brought about by…
Idea: Evolution by Anthropogenic Action
New ideaMediumOther
Q73
Flippers of Penguins and Dolphins are examples of :
Idea: Homology vs Analogy: Flipper Trap
New ideaEasyOne-line MCQ

NEET 20182 questions

Q177
Among the following sets of examples for divergent evolution, select the incorrect option :
Idea: Analogous Organs in Animals
New ideaMediumOne-line MCQ
Q179
The similarity of bone structure in the forelimbs of many vertebrates is an example of
Idea: Homology in Forelimb Bones
New ideaEasyOne-line MCQ

Questions from the official NEET UG papers published by NTA (CBSE before 2019). Topic and idea tags, counts and notes are Lumi’s.