UPSC Prelims 2016 · Question 70 of 98

UPSC Prelims 2016 question on New Banana Species Andaman

Recently, our scientists have discovered a new and distinct species of banana plant which attains a height of about 11 metres and has orange-coloured fruit pulp. In which part of India has it been discovered?

  1. Andaman Islands
  2. Anamalai Forests
  3. Maikal Hills
  4. Tropical rain forests of northeast
Show answer

Answer: A. Andaman Islands

Verdict

The answer is the Andaman Islands. The new banana species with orange pulp was discovered there.

Analysis

Scientists at the Botanical Survey of India described the new species from a remote tropical rain forest on Little Andaman. It reaches about eleven metres against the usual three to four metres for cultivated banana, and its fruit pulp is orange rather than the familiar cream. Island rain forests are characteristically rich in endemic species because long isolation permits divergence, which is why a genuinely new species of a well studied genus is more likely to be found there than on the mainland.

Source

The Hindu report on the Andaman banana discovery.

How to crack it

Reason from island biogeography rather than trying to recall the report. New endemic species are disproportionately described from islands and from isolated montane pockets, because isolation drives divergence and limits prior collection. When a question announces the discovery of a new species and offers an island among the options, the island is the strong prior. Note the agency too, since the Botanical Survey of India and the Zoological Survey of India are the bodies that make such announcements.

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