After surviving a bottleneck, a population recovers to the point where it consists of as many individuals as it did prior to the bottleneck. Which statement is most likely to apply to this population?
A)The post-bottleneck population exhibits less genetic variation than the pre-bottleneck population.
B)The bottleneck subjected the pre-population to stabilizing selection.
C)The post-bottleneck population has less of a chance of going extinct than did the pre-bottleneck population.
D)The post-bottleneck population exhibits more genetic variation than the pre-bottleneck population.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

A bottleneck event reduces genetic diversity because it drastically reduces the population size, leading to a loss of genetic variation. Even if the population size recovers, the genetic variation is likely to be less than before the bottleneck.

After Surviving a Bottleneck, a Population Recovers to the Point