Overhunting of the northern elephant seals left only 20 individuals, from which the modern population arose. As a result, each animal is most likely ____ for most alleles.
A) recessive
B) dominant
C) homozygous
D) heterozygous
E) codominant

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Due to the severe bottleneck effect experienced by the northern elephant seals, with the population being reduced to just 20 individuals, genetic diversity was significantly reduced. This means that most of the surviving seals were likely very genetically similar to one another, leading to a high likelihood that they would be homozygous for most alleles, as there was a limited gene pool from which to inherit variations.

Overhunting of the Northern Elephant Seals Left Only 20 Individuals