Question

A population of 1,000 birds exists on a small Pacific island. Some of the birds are yellow, a characteristic determined by a recessive allele. The others are green, a characteristic determined by a dominant allele. A hurricane on the island kills most of the birds from this population. Only ten remain, and all ten have yellow feathers. Which of the following statements is true regarding the hypothetical situaation? Assuming that no new birds coome to the island and no mutations occur, future generations of this population will contain both green and yellow birds.A. The hurricane has caused a population bottleneck. B. This situation illustrtes the principle of adaptive radiation.C. This situation illustrates the founder effect Or, The ten remaining birds will mate only with each other, and will contribute to gene flow in the population.

Answer 1

Answer:

A. The hurricane has caused a population bottleneck.

Explanation:

A population bottleneck is a phenomenon that leads to a sharp decrease in the genetic variation of a population as a result of environmental disasters such as droughts, famine, hurricane, epidemics, etc.

The total genetic variation in a bottleneck population remains very small without gene flow from external sources or random mutation and this makes the population to be susceptible and easily wiped out by negative environmental changes.

However, if the bottleneck population consist of individuals that are best fitted to the environment, it increases the overall adaptation of the population to environmental changes.

The correct option is A.