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Q12 (IAS/2023) Environment & Ecology › Biodiversity & Protected Areas › Biodiversity patterns Official Key

Consider the following statements : Statement-I : Marsupials are not naturally found in India. Statement-II : Marsupials can thrive only in montane grasslands with no predators. Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

Result
Your answer: —  ·  Correct: C
Explanation

The correct answer is Option 3: Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is incorrect.

Statement-I is correct: Marsupials (mammals that carry young in pouches, such as kangaroos and koalas) are not native to India. They are geographically restricted primarily to Australasia and the Americas. India’s mammalian fauna consists almost entirely of placental mammals.

Statement-II is incorrect: The claim that marsupials can thrive only in montane grasslands with no predators is factually wrong. Marsupials are highly adaptable and inhabit diverse ecosystems, including tropical rainforests, deserts, and temperate forests. Furthermore, they coexist with various natural predators (like the Dingo or Tasmanian Devil). Their evolutionary success in Australia was due to long-term geographic isolation rather than a total absence of predators or a restriction to specific montane habitats.

Since the first statement is a factual geographical truth and the second is a restrictive biological fallacy, Option 3 is the only valid choice.

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Don’t just practise – reverse-engineer the question. This panel shows where this PYQ came from (books / web), how the examiner broke it into hidden statements, and which nearby micro-concepts you were supposed to learn from it. Treat it like an autopsy of the question: what might have triggered it, which exact lines in the book matter, and what linked ideas you should carry forward to future questions.
Q. Consider the following statements : Statement-I : Marsupials are not naturally found in India. Statement-II : Marsupials can thrive only …
At a glance
Origin: Books + Current Affairs Fairness: Low / Borderline fairness Books / CA: 3.3/10 · 6.7/10
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Statement I is basic static knowledge covered in standard texts (Shankar/Majid) regarding Zoogeographical realms. Statement II is a 'logic trap' using extreme qualifiers ('only', 'no predators'). You didn't need the specific research paper; you needed common sense and basic biogeography.

How this question is built

This question can be broken into the following sub-statements. Tap a statement sentence to jump into its detailed analysis.

Statement 1
Are there any marsupial species native to India (i.e., naturally occurring without human introduction)?
Origin: Direct from books Fairness: Straightforward Book-answerable
From standard books
Environment and Ecology, Majid Hussain (Access publishing 3rd ed.) > Chapter 4: BIODIVERSITY > x) not evaluated (ne) > p. 16
Presence: 5/5
“Nilgiri Marten; Region/State/Union Territory: Western Ghats (Kerala and Karnataka) Red Panda Temperate Forests of the Himalayas • Species: Marine Mammals; Region/State/Union Territory: • Species: 13. Dugong (Sea Cow); Region/State/Union Territory: Indian Ocean • Species: 14. Fresh Water Dolphin (River Dolphin); Region/State/Union Territory: Ganga and its tributaries • Species: 15. Ganga River Dolphin; Region/State/Union Territory: Ganga and Brahmaputra • Species: List of Marsupials (pouched mammals of Australia); Region/State/Union Territory: Bandicoot, Dasyure, Kangaroo, Koala, Marsupial Mole,Opossum, Phalangers, Tasmanian Devils, Tasmanian Wolf, Wallaby, Wombats • Species: Extinct Marsupials (Australia); Region/State/Union Territory: Marsupial Wolf and Quagga”
Why this source?
  • Labels 'List of Marsupials (pouched mammals of Australia)', explicitly linking marsupials to Australia rather than India.
  • Enumerates typical Australasian marsupials (kangaroo, koala, wallaby, etc.), none described as Indian natives.
Environment, Shankar IAS Acedemy .(ed 10th) > Chapter 12: Animal Diversity of India > L?..3,2, Marsupials > p. 190
Presence: 3/5
“• Marsupials are the group of mammals commonly thought of as pouched mammals (like the wallaby and kangaroo). • Marsupial mammals have placenta, though it is very short-lived and does not make as much of a contribution to fetal nourishment. • They give birth very early and the young animal, essentially a helpless embryo, climbs from the mother's birth canal to the nipples. • There it grabs on with its mouth and continues to develop, often for weeks or months depending on the species.”
Why this source?
  • Defines marsupials as pouched mammals with examples (wallaby, kangaroo) that are conventionally Australasian.
  • Provides characteristic biology of marsupials but contains no reference to Indian native marsupials, reinforcing their typical non-Indian distribution.
Statement analysis

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Statement analysis

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