Question

Genetic drift occurs when few individuals of a species colonize, the phenomenon is

• A. Bottleneck effect
• B. Assortative mating
• C. Founder effect
• D. Random mating

Answer 1

The correct option is C Founder effect

• The Founder effect occurs when a small mating population leads to a lack of genetic variation.
• Small colonies of individuals are developed from the original population that remains isolated from other colonies resulting in a considerable decrease in genetic diversity.
• Only a small amount of the genetic diversity of the source population is included in the new population.
• An example of the Founder effect is an abnormally high count of Huntington's disease in the African population of Dutch settlers in South Africa. The original Dutch settlers carried the gene for Huntington's disease with a higher frequency than the rest of the Dutch population.

Thus, the correct answer is option C.