Question

Think about how all the northern right whales currently alive are the product of only three different females. Why does it matter that we know this? What importance might this have to scientists as they try to develop strategies to help the right whales build up their numbers?

Answer 1

@KendrickLamar2014

Answer 2

help

Answer 3

@MyEyesHurt

Answer 4

@barreraA

Answer 5

@JFraser

Answer 6

If a population consists of the descendants of only 3 females, the population has undergone what is called a genetic bottleneck. That means there is very low amount of genetic diversity within the population. Most individuals are therefore close relatives. That could lead to problems, such as congenital or birth defects, but that is not a certainty. It depends on whether the 3 females have, by chance, deleterious or harmful mutations in their genes that can cause genetic defects. A low level of genetic diversity also renders a population susceptible to disease, because a new disease organism that is deadly to one individual may be deadly to all individuals if they are identical or very similar in their genetic makeup.

Take AIDS for example. Some people are, for some as yet unknown reason, immune to AIDS. They may have been infected with the HIV virus, but their body can fight off the virus and prevent full blown AIDS. A vast majority of us cannot do the same. Therefore the genetic diversity within the human population allows some of us to resist certain diseases and survive to reproduce. A population low in diversity can be wiped out entirely by a new disease whereas a population with greater diversity may be more lucky. Further, genetic diversity is the raw material that allows a population to adapt to a new or changing environment. If a new trait, for example, is needed because the environment suddenly changed, then the chance that a genetically diverse population may have some individuals with the correct trait is greater than if genetic diversity is low. Genetic diversity is therefore an insurance against extinction caused not only by new diseases, but also by changes in the environment.

Sexual reproduction helps a population maintatin genetic diversity within a population and a species if the different populations of a species can interbreed at least once in a while. Sexual reproduction is therefore nearly universal among plant and animal species. Even clonal organisms (such as bacteria) that normally reproduce asexually will sometimes reproduce sexually so as to promote genetic diversity.

Knowing that a species has low genetic diversity, scientists can recommend to government officials that hunting should be banned or limited in order to boost genetic diversity. Even if a whale population has healthy numbers, low genetic diversity can become a potential problem should there be a new disease or new environmental changes (such as, say, global warming). https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100421010427AAYtCkn

Answer 7

@NathalyN

Answer 8

thanks for the medal @MyEyesHurt and @NathalyN

Answer 9

You nailed it! =D