What does the classification of animals NEET 2026 question ask?
Crocodiles have four-chambered hearts, so “every” decides the answer in this classification of animals NEET 2026 question. The item comes from NEET UG 2026, held on 21 June 2026, Code-50. Its medium difficulty is the question bank’s rating, not an official NTA rating.
Judge these two statements separately:
- Statement I: The name Reptilia takes its meaning from creeping or crawling.
- Statement II: Every member of Reptilia has a three-chambered heart, without exception.
The answer choices are:
Keep the word every intact. Replacing it with “usually” changes the claim you must judge.
Why is Statement I about the meaning of Reptilia true?
Statement I is true because Reptilia derives from a Latin word meaning “to creep or crawl”. This explanation belongs to NCERT Class 11 Biology, Chapter 4, Animal Kingdom. The question bank groups the item under Diversity in Living World, but Animal Kingdom is the relevant chapter.
The derivation is:
- Reptilia ← Latin reptum ← “to creep or crawl”.
Statement I concerns the meaning of the class name. It does not demand that every reptile move in precisely the same way.
Keep this verdict separate from the heart-chamber claim. Do not select an option yet: both A and C remain possible until Statement II is checked.
Why does the crocodile exception make option C correct?
Statement II is false because crocodiles belong to Reptilia but have four-chambered hearts. NCERT states that reptiles usually have a three-chambered heart, with crocodiles as the exception. That exception defeats the claim about every reptile.
Complete the remaining checks:
- Recall the general condition. Reptiles usually have a three-chambered heart.
- Test “every”. Statement II includes crocodiles because they are reptiles. Crocodiles have four heart chambers, not three.
- Assign the verdict. Therefore, the claim that every reptile has three heart chambers is false.
One valid counterexample is enough to disprove an “all” statement. No survey of every reptile is needed. You also do not need to show that most reptiles have four chambers: the named exception alone settles the issue.
The final truth pair is I: true; II: false. Match both verdicts to the options:
- A fails because it marks Statement II true.
- B fails because it marks Statement I false.
- D fails because it also marks Statement I false.
- C matches both verdicts.
Correct answer: C, Statement I is correct and Statement II is incorrect.
How does overlooking the exception produce option A?
Option A results from treating “usually” as “all”. The incorrect method accepts Statement I correctly, recalls “reptiles have a three-chambered heart”, overlooks the crocodile exception, and marks Statement II true.
That produces a true/true evaluation, which maps to option A. The remembered general condition is not the problem. Applying it to every member without checking the exception is the error.
Use this routine for statement-based Animal Kingdom questions:
- Identify the universal word, such as all, every or always.
- Recall the general textbook rule.
- Search for a named exception.
- Only then assign true or false.
“Usually three-chambered” and “all three-chambered” are not interchangeable. But “all” is a prompt to verify a claim, not an automatic signal that the statement is false.
How many heart chambers do a lizard, crocodile and turtle have?
The sequence is three, four, three, giving option B. Check each animal separately rather than applying one chamber count to the whole class.
Original Animal Kingdom practice MCQ, not an additional verified NEET PYQ: Which sequence gives the number of heart chambers in a lizard, a crocodile and a turtle, in that order?
Answer: B. Check each animal: lizard, three; crocodile, four; turtle, three.
Across one heart from each animal, the total is:
Incorrectly assigning three chambers to each gives:
The extra chamber belongs to the crocodile. Recognising this exception must not lead you to assign four chambers to reptiles generally.
Does a four-chambered heart make a crocodile a mammal?
No. A crocodile is a poikilothermic reptile with a four-chambered heart. Heart-chamber count alone establishes neither its animal class nor its temperature-regulation category.
Original Animal Kingdom practice MCQ: Which description correctly combines a crocodile’s animal class, temperature-regulation category and heart structure?
Answer: A. Crocodiles belong to Reptilia. They are poikilothermic, meaning their body temperature varies with environmental conditions, and have four-chambered hearts.
The heart exception does not change the crocodile’s class. Before marking a universal claim, check the named exception.
Recall: Reptilia means creep/crawl; the three-chamber rule has a crocodile exception; the original answer is C.
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For a worked example of the same idea, see Laws of Motion NEET 2004: Accelerating Wedge Solution.
Frequently asked questions
What is the correct answer to the Reptilia statements question in NEET 2026?
The correct answer is C: Statement I is true and Statement II is false. Reptilia means creeping or crawling, but the claim that every reptile has a three-chambered heart is false because crocodiles have four-chambered hearts.
What does Reptilia mean in NCERT?
Reptilia derives from the Latin word reptum, meaning to creep or crawl. NCERT Class 11 Biology covers this in Chapter 4, Animal Kingdom.
How many heart chambers do a lizard, crocodile and turtle have?
A lizard has three heart chambers, a crocodile has four, and a turtle has three. The sequence is 3, 4, 3, which gives option B in the article’s original practice MCQ.
Does a four-chambered heart make a crocodile a mammal?
No, a crocodile belongs to Reptilia despite having a four-chambered heart. It is poikilothermic, meaning its body temperature varies with environmental conditions. Heart-chamber count alone does not determine an animal’s class or temperature-regulation category.