Locomotion and Movement — NEET Zoology MCQs with answers

Locomotion and Movement is a Class 11 Zoology chapter in the NEET (UG) syllabus. NEET720 has 1,037 reviewed practice questions on it, each with a quick answer and a step-by-step explanation. The 8 questions below are free and fixed, so you can bookmark this page; the full chapter, plus mistake tracking and spaced revision, is in the app.

Topics covered

Muscle Structure and Contraction · Skeletal System · Joints and Disorders · Connective Tissue · Sarcomere · Excitation-contraction coupling · Rib cage · Cross bridge cycle · Pelvic girdle · Myosin structure · Sarcomere organisation · Skeletal muscle organisation · Bone and cartilage · Contraction sequence · Skeleton · Pectoral girdle · Muscle contraction energetics · Skull · Ciliary movement · Thin filament structure · Skeletal muscle · Antagonistic muscles · Numerical · Cardiac muscle · Vertebrae · Bone marrow · Arthritis · Sarcolemma and T tubules · Smooth muscle · Synovial joints · Locomotion · Bone · Muscle · Bands · Amoeboid movement · Integrated · Muscle contraction biochemistry · Numerical - Bone count · Muscle fatigue and disorders · Muscle structure

8 free Locomotion and Movement practice questions with answers

Choose an answer in your head before opening it. Each explanation says why the correct option is right and, where relevant, why the tempting wrong option is wrong.

1. Question 1 · easy · Joints and Disorders

   A joint, as defined in human anatomy, is best described as a point of contact between

   • A.two bones only
   • B.two bones, or between a bone and cartilage
   • C.two muscles only
   • D.a muscle and a tendon
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: B. two bones, or between a bone and cartilage

   A joint is the point of contact between bones, or between bone and cartilage, and joints are essential for all movements involving the bony parts of the body.

   NCERT defines a joint as the point of contact between bones, or between bone and cartilage of the body. Joints are essential for facilitating all types of movement involving the bony parts of the body, and they also provide mechanical support. Option A is incomplete because it ignores bone-cartilage articulations (e.g., costal cartilage-rib). Options C and D describe unrelated structures (muscle-muscle or muscle-tendon junctions), which are not joints in the skeletal sense.

   Common mistake: Restricting the definition of a joint to bone-bone contact only, forgetting bone-cartilage joints.

   Key point: A joint = contact point between bones, or bone and cartilage; joints enable movement of bony parts.

2. Question 2 · medium · Joints and Disorders

   The flat bones of the skull are joined to each other by fibrous tissue at sutures. What is the functional consequence of this arrangement?

   • A.It permits free rotatory movement of skull bones relative to each other
   • B.It permits slight, limited movement similar to intervertebral joints
   • C.It permits no movement between the skull bones, giving the cranium rigidity
   • D.It creates a fluid-filled cavity that lubricates skull bone surfaces
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: C. It permits no movement between the skull bones, giving the cranium rigidity

   Fibrous joints, such as skull sutures, do not allow any movement; the fibrous tissue firmly binds adjacent flat bones, giving the skull a rigid, protective structure.

   Fibrous joints are one of the three joint types classified by the material joining the bones. They are joined by fibrous connective tissue and allow no movement at all. Skull sutures are the classic example: interlocking fibrous joints between flat cranial bones that fuse the skull into a single rigid, protective case for the brain. Option A wrongly assigns mobility. Option C confuses fibrous with cartilaginous joints. Option D wrongly assigns a synovial cavity, a feature exclusive to synovial joints.

   Common mistake: Assuming every joint in the body permits some degree of movement.

   Key point: Fibrous joints (e.g., skull sutures) allow NO movement — they provide rigidity, not flexibility.

3. Question 3 · medium · Joints and Disorders

   Statement I: In cartilaginous joints, cartilage is present between the two articulating bones. Statement II: Cartilaginous joints allow considerable, free movement between the articulating bones, similar to limb joints. In light of the above statements, choose the correct answer.

   • A.Both Statement I and Statement II are true
   • B.Statement I is false but Statement II is true
   • C.Both Statement I and Statement II are false
   • D.Statement I is true but Statement II is false
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: D. Statement I is true but Statement II is false

   Cartilaginous joints do have cartilage between the articulating bones, but they permit only limited/slight movement (e.g., between vertebrae), not the free, considerable movement seen at synovial joints.

   Statement I is true: cartilaginous joints are defined by the presence of cartilage between the two articulating bones, e.g. the intervertebral discs between adjacent vertebrae. Statement II is false: cartilaginous joints allow only limited or slight movement; it is synovial joints (characterised by a fluid-filled synovial cavity) that allow considerable, free movement, as seen at limb joints. Confusing these two categories is a common NEET trap.

   Common mistake: Assigning the 'free movement' property of synovial joints to cartilaginous joints.

   Key point: Cartilaginous joints = cartilage between bones, LIMITED movement (e.g., vertebrae); synovial joints = fluid cavity, FREE movement.

4. Question 4 · medium · Joints and Disorders

   A patient's synovial fluid production at the knee joint is drastically reduced due to disease. What is the most direct mechanical consequence expected at that joint?

   • A.The joint becomes completely immobile like a fibrous joint
   • B.The bones fuse permanently through ossification
   • C.Increased friction between articulating bone surfaces, causing pain and restricted smooth movement
   • D.The joint gains additional degrees of freedom of movement
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: C. Increased friction between articulating bone surfaces, causing pain and restricted smooth movement

   Synovial fluid fills the synovial cavity and facilitates smooth movement between articulating bones; its depletion increases friction, causing pain and restricted, less smooth movement at the joint.

   The synovial cavity is filled with synovial fluid that lubricates the joint and enables smooth movement between the articulating bones of a synovial joint like the knee. If synovial fluid production drops sharply, friction between bone surfaces increases, leading to pain, stiffness, and restricted smooth movement — this is seen clinically in conditions affecting joint lubrication. The joint does not become a fibrous joint (A), bones do not fuse (C, an unrelated process), and mobility does not increase (D); mobility decreases.

   Common mistake: Assuming reduced lubrication paradoxically increases joint mobility rather than restricting it.

   Key point: Synovial fluid lubricates the joint cavity; loss of it increases friction and impairs smooth movement, it does not increase mobility.

5. Question 5 · easy · Joints and Disorders

   Synovial joints are characterised by the presence of a fluid-filled cavity between the articulating bones. What is this fluid-filled cavity called?

   • A.Synovial cavity
   • B.Medullary cavity
   • C.Pleural cavity
   • D.Haversian canal
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: A. Synovial cavity

   The fluid-filled space between the articulating bones of a synovial joint is called the synovial cavity, and it facilitates smooth movement between the two bones.

   Synovial joints are defined by the presence of a fluid-filled synovial cavity between the articulating bones. This cavity, enclosed by a joint capsule and filled with synovial fluid, reduces friction and facilitates smooth movement between the bones, allowing considerable, free movement as seen at limb joints. The medullary cavity (B) is an unrelated internal cavity of long bones containing bone marrow; the pleural cavity (C) surrounds the lungs; the Haversian canal (D) is a microscopic channel within compact bone carrying blood vessels — none relate to joint lubrication.

   Common mistake: Confusing the synovial cavity of a joint with the medullary cavity inside a long bone.

   Key point: The synovial cavity (not medullary cavity or pleural cavity) is the fluid-filled space that lubricates synovial joints.

6. Question 6 · medium · Joints and Disorders

   The knee joint, formed between the femur and the tibia-fibula, permits movement comparable to the opening and closing of a door. Which type of synovial joint does this describe, and how many planes of movement does it permit?

   • A.Hinge joint; one plane of movement
   • B.Saddle joint; two planes of movement
   • C.Pivot joint; rotatory movement only, no plane restriction
   • D.Ball and socket joint; movement in almost all directions
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: A. Hinge joint; one plane of movement

   The knee joint (femur–tibiofibular joint) is a hinge joint, permitting movement in only one plane, comparable to the opening and closing of a door.

   A hinge joint permits movement in only one plane, like the opening and closing of a door. The joint between the femur and the tibia-fibula, i.e. the knee joint, is the classic example. This is distinct from the saddle joint (two planes/biaxial, e.g. thumb carpometacarpal joint), the pivot joint (rotatory movement only, e.g. atlas-axis), and the ball and socket joint (movement in almost all directions, e.g. shoulder). The door analogy specifically signals single-plane, hinge-type movement.

   Common mistake: Mixing up hinge joint's single-plane movement with the rotation-only movement of a pivot joint.

   Key point: Hinge joint = one-plane movement like a door, example: knee joint (femur-tibiofibular).

7. Question 7 · medium · Joints and Disorders

   A student claims that because the wrist can move in several directions overall, the individual joints between adjacent carpal bones at the wrist must be ball and socket joints. What is the correct classification of the joints between the carpals, and why?

   • A.Ball and socket joints, because the wrist shows multidirectional movement
   • B.Hinge joints, because carpal bones only flex and extend
   • C.Gliding joints, because they permit sliding movement between the flat surfaces of adjacent carpals
   • D.Fibrous joints, because carpal bones are tightly packed together
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: C. Gliding joints, because they permit sliding movement between the flat surfaces of adjacent carpals

   The joints between individual carpal bones at the wrist are gliding joints, which permit sliding movement between the flat, closely apposed surfaces of adjacent bones; the wrist's overall range of motion results from the combined effect of many such small gliding joints, not from any single ball-and-socket joint.

   A gliding joint permits sliding or gliding movement between the surfaces of two bones, and the joints between the carpals at the wrist are the standard example. The wrist's apparent multidirectional flexibility is the cumulative effect of many small gliding joints acting together, not evidence that each individual carpal-carpal joint is a ball and socket joint (which instead involves a rounded head fitting into a cup-shaped cavity, as at the shoulder). Hinge joints (single-plane) and fibrous joints (no movement) also do not match the sliding behaviour of carpal joints.

   Common mistake: Inferring the type of individual small joints from the combined range of motion of the whole joint region (wrist).

   Key point: Gliding joint = sliding between flat bone surfaces, example: joints between carpals at the wrist.

8. Question 8 · easy · Joints and Disorders

   The saddle joint between the carpal and metacarpal of the thumb allows movement in how many planes?

   • A.Two planes (biaxial)
   • B.One plane only
   • C.Movement in almost all directions
   • D.Only rotatory movement
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: A. Two planes (biaxial)

   The saddle joint, exemplified by the carpal-metacarpal joint of the thumb, allows movement in two planes, i.e. it is biaxial.

   A saddle joint allows movement in two planes (biaxial movement). The joint between the carpal and metacarpal of the thumb is the standard NEET example, and this biaxial mobility is what gives the human thumb its characteristic opposability-related flexibility. This differs from a hinge joint (one plane only, e.g. knee), a ball and socket joint (movement in almost all directions, e.g. shoulder), and a pivot joint (rotatory movement only, e.g. atlas-axis).

   Common mistake: Confusing the saddle joint's biaxial movement with the single-plane movement of a hinge joint.

   Key point: Saddle joint = two planes (biaxial) of movement, example: carpal-metacarpal joint of the thumb.

Questions about Locomotion and Movement for NEET

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Questions are original NEET720 compositions reviewed for correctness, syllabus fit and option quality. Counts update as the bank grows (1,037 active practice questions in this chapter today).