On the island of Bilago, on the Planet Ceti Alpha 6, there lives a population of armadiles (cross between an armadillo and a crocodile). A portion of these armadiles have small teeth; as a result, they are vegetarian. Tooth size is determined by a single autosomal locus with two alleles: T (trait allele) and t (wild type allele). In a recent study, researchers collected the values in the following table:

Phenotype
Genotype Small teeth Standard size (wild type) teeth
TT 100 15
Tt 65 10
tt 10 150

The T allele frequency in this population is 0.45, and the genotypes are in Hardy-Weinberg proportions at the locus. In the general population, what is the probability that an armadile will have the Tt genotype among if they have standard size teeth?

a. 0.032.
b. 0.250.
c. 0.176.
d. 0.067.
e. 0.625.

he forelimbs below belong to four species that descended in a direct line from the ancestral mammal shown above. of the four descendants shown, which species most likely appeared earliest in evolutionary history?

the african cheetah.

this species has a relatively low level of genetic

variation because the population was reduced to a small size approxi-

mately 10,000 to 12,000 years ago.

chapter   outline

24.1

genes in populations and the hardy-

weinberg equation

24.2

factors that change allele and genotype

frequencies in populations

24.3     sources of new genetic variation

population   genetics

24

until   now,   we   have   primarily   focused   our   attention   on   genes  

within   individuals   and   their   related   family   members.   in   this  

chapter   and   chapters   25   and   26   ,   we   turn   to   the   study   of   genes   in  

a   population   or   species.   the   field   of

population   genetics

  is   con-

cerned   with   changes   in   genetic   variation   within   a   group   of   indi-

viduals   over   time.   population   geneticists   want   to   know   the   extent  

of   genetic   variation   within   populations,   why   it   exists,   and   how   it  

changes   over   the   course   of   many   generations.   the   field   of   popu-

lation   genetics   emerged   as   a   branch   of   genetics   in   the   1920s   and  

1930s.   its   mathematical   foundations   were   developed   by   theoreti-

cians   who   extended   the   principles   of   gregor   mendel   and   charles  

darwin   by   deriving   formulas   to   explain   the   occurrence   of   geno-

types   within   populations.   these   foundations   can   be   largely   attrib-

uted to three scientists: sir ronald fisher, sewall wright, and j. b. s.

haldane.   as   we   will   see,   support   for   their   mathematical   theories  

was provided by several researchers who analyzed the genetic com-

position   of   natural   and   experimental   populations.   more   recently,  

population   geneticists   have   used   techniques   to   probe   genetic  

variation   at   the   molecular   level.   in   addition,   staggering   advances  

in   computer   technology   have   aided   population   geneticists   in   the  

analysis   of   their   genetic   theories   and   data.   in   this   chapter,   we   will  

explore   the   genetic   variation   that   occurs   in   populations   and   con-

sider   the   reasons   why   the   genetic   composition   of   populations   may  

change over the course of several generations

glacial erosion, the picking up and movement of earth beneath a glacier, is also referred to as plucking. erosion and transportation of individual pieces of bedrock, especially large "joint block occur as a result of this glacial erosion. plucking is type of erosion in which rocks become frozen into the bottom and sides of the glacier.as the glacier moves downhill it 'plucks' the rocks frozen into the glacier from the ground.