Question

What ecological events led to the speciation of the florida panther? genetic drift is the random loss of alleles due to chance. for example when a tsunami hits an island and someone dies, it is by chance. what events contribute to genetic drift in the florida panther? does genetic drift increase or decrease the amount of variation in a population?

Answer 1

Due to habitat loss and overhunting, the population of Florida panther has dangerously decreased. This had a grave impact on the genetic pool of this species because it has significantly decreased the genetic variation in this population. This is a textbook example of genetic drift. A small number of individuals have survived by chance and their genetic profiles represent only a fragment of the initial genetic variability.