Minimalist IAS
Prelims 2023 paper

UPSC CSE Prelims 2023 · GS Paper I · Question 19 · Biodiversity, plants & animals

निम्नलिखित में से कौन, किसी वृक्ष या लकड़ी के लट्ठे में बने छिद्र में से कीटों को खुरचने के लिए…

UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2023, General Studies Paper I, Question 19 — Biodiversity, plants & animals.

निम्नलिखित में से कौन, किसी वृक्ष या लकड़ी के लट्ठे में बने छिद्र में से कीटों को खुरचने के लिए लकड़ी का औज़ार बनाता है?

Read this question in English

Which one of the following makes a tool with a stick to scrape insects from a hole in a tree or a log of wood?

(a) Fishing cat · (b) Orangutan · (c) Otter · (d) Sloth bear

उत्तर और व्याख्या · explanation in English

Answer: (b) ओरैंगउटैन

Among the options, only the orangutan, a great ape, fashions tools from sticks: some wild orangutan populations modify small sticks and use them to probe tree trunks for food such as honey.

  • ✓ (b) Some wild orangutan populations modify small sticks and probe tree trunks with them for food such as honey; Sumatran orangutans also modify sticks to open Neesia fruits.
  • ✗ (d) The sloth bear eats termites and ants, but it digs them out with its long curved claws and sucks them up; it is not known to make tools.
  • ✗ (c) Otters are not known for making stick tools to scrape insects out of wood.

Remember · Orangutan: stick tools to probe tree trunks for food such as honey. Sloth bear: claws and suction to eat termites, no tools.

Sources

  • Smithsonian's National Zoo, Orangutan ↗ · reference work “Orangutans in some wild populations modify small sticks, which they hold in their lips while probing in tree trunks for food such as honey. … including the modification of sticks by a population of Sumatran orangutans to open Neesia fruits and more efficiently harvest their seeds”
  • Smithsonian's National Zoo, Sloth bear ↗ · reference work “Sloth bears have shaggy, dusty-black coats; pale, short-haired muzzles; and long, curved claws which they use to excavate termites and ants. … Adult sloth bears are missing their top two front teeth (incisors), which enables them to suck up termites and other insects with ease.”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·

Cite this question: UPSC CSE Prelims 2023, Q19 — minimalistias.com/pyqs/prelims/2023/q19

In the UPSC syllabus: Biodiversity, plants & animals › Animals in the news: species & habitats See it and tick it covered →

Timed · 30 minutes Take Environment & ecology · Set 5 as a test This question is in it — with UPSC's marking and an instant score. Start the set Or the whole 2023 paper →

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