Question

Certain traits will have been lost from the gene pool forever. Some may be obvious, like people with red hair or double jointed thumbs. Others will be less obvious, like the ability to process cholesterol or being allergic to peanuts. This loss of diversity in a reduced population is called ________.

Answer 1

Bottleneck effect.

Step-by-step explanation:

The bottleneck effect is described as an effect that happens when a certain population is drastically reduced, most likely, due to a natural event. If in this population there were 100 people and were 40 blondes, 40 black haired, and 20 red heads, the bottleneck effect would happen if, out of a natural disaster, only 20 people survived and they had 15 redheads and 5 blondes. When the numbers of that population start to grow, there will be a lot more red heads than before.

So, the bottleneck, in other words, is when a small proportion of the original population makes it through, by chance.