A large population of laboratory animals has been allowed to…

A large population of laboratory animals has been allowed to breed randomly for a number of generations. After several generations, 25% of the animals display a recessive trait (aa), the same percentage as at the beginning of the breeding program. The rest of the animals show the dominant phenotype, with heterozygotes indistinguishable from the homozygous dominants.   What proportion of the population is probably heterozygous (Aa) for this trait?

Traditionally, whales and hippopotamuses have been classifie…

Traditionally, whales and hippopotamuses have been classified in different orders, the Cetacea and the Artiodactyla, respectively. Recent molecular evidence, however, indicates that the whales’ closest living relatives are the hippos. This has caused some zoologists to lump the two orders together into a single clade, the Cetartiodactyla. There is no consensus on whether the Cetartiodactyla should be accorded order status or superorder status. This is because it remains unclear whether the whale lineage diverged from the lineage leading to the hippos before or after the other members of the order Artiodactyla (pigs, camels, etc.) diverged (see Figure 20.5)   Figure 20.5   If it turns out that the whale lineage diverged from the lineage leading to hippos after the divergence of the lineage leading to the pigs and other artiodactyls, and if the whales continue to be classified in the order Cetacea, then what becomes true of the order Artiodactyla?

You are studying three populations of birds. Population A ha…

You are studying three populations of birds. Population A has 10 birds, of which 1 is brown (a recessive trait) and 9 are red. Population B has 100 birds, of which 10 are brown. Population C has 30 birds, and 3 of them are brown.   Which population is most likely to be subject to the bottleneck effect?