; what is “effective population size” in genetics,(was reading about make to female ratios through human evolution)?
In: Biology
So in a lot of populations, the social structure will mean that not everyone reproduces. Think of a group of 50 females and 40 males but only 5 of the males are able to win mates. Assuming those 5 males can mate with all 50 females, the effective population size is 55- it’s the number of reproducing individuals in a population, not ALL the individuals in the population. It includes whoever is actually passing their genes on to future generations. Females are usually the more limiting factor for population reproduction so it’s generally better in animal populations for the females to outnumber the males. If there were a lot more males than females, the effective population shrinks because only some of the males are going to be able to reproduce.
Latest Answers