Question
}(l) 12. Which combination of characteristics in a population would provide the greatest potential for evolutionary change? & small population, low mutation rates (sky blue) & small population, high mutation rates (yellow green) & large population, high mutation rates (purple)
Answer
4.7
(199 Votes)
Terrence
Elite · Tutor for 8 years
Answer
C
Explanation
To determine which combination of characteristics in a population would provide the greatest potential for evolutionary change, we need to understand the roles of population size and mutation rates in evolution.1. **Population Size**: - Small populations are more susceptible to genetic drift, a process where allele frequencies change randomly over time. This can lead to significant evolutionary changes, especially if the population is isolated. - Large populations, on the other hand, are less influenced by genetic drift due to their size. Changes in allele frequencies are more likely to be driven by natural selection rather than random chance.2. **Mutation Rates**: - Mutations are the primary source of genetic variation, which is crucial for evolution. Without genetic variation, a population cannot evolve in response to changing environmental pressures. - Low mutation rates mean fewer new alleles are introduced into the gene pool, reducing the potential for evolutionary change. - High mutation rates increase the amount of genetic variation in a population, providing more material for natural selection to act upon.Given these points, let's analyze the options: - **Small population, low mutation rates**: This combination would have limited potential for evolutionary change due to low genetic variation and a higher impact of genetic drift. - **Small population, high mutation rates**: While the high mutation rate introduces more genetic variation, the small size of the population means that genetic drift could rapidly fix or eliminate alleles, potentially leading to rapid evolutionary change. - **Large population, high mutation rates**: This combination provides a large pool of genetic variation due to high mutation rates, and the large size of the population ensures that genetic drift has a lesser impact compared to natural selection.Therefore, the combination of a large population with high mutation rates would provide the greatest potential for evolutionary change. This is because it combines a high level of genetic variation with the stabilizing effect of a large population size, allowing natural selection to effectively shape the population's genetic makeup over time.