Population bottlenecks can result in rapid fixation or loss of alleles in otherwise large populations because the bottleneck
A) selectively eliminates or fixes alleles.
B) reduces the effective population size.
C) allows migrant alleles to overwhelm native alleles.
D) creates many new small populations.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Population bottlenecks result in a decrease in the effective population size, which can increase genetic drift and lead to the rapid fixation or loss of alleles. This occurs because a smaller population size means that alleles are more likely to be lost due to chance events.

Population Bottlenecks Can Result in Rapid Fixation or Loss of Alleles