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You are studying populations of bighorn sheep and coyotes across the landscape. Based on their biology, which species would you expect to show the greatest genetic divergence among populations?

1) Bighorn sheep should show higher Fst values than coyotes
2) Bighorn sheep should show lower Fst values than coyotes
3) Bighorn sheep should show equal Fst values to coyotes
4) There is no way to know how genetically distinct these populations will be

1 Answer

2 votes

Final answer:

Based on their behaviors and breeding systems, bighorn sheep would likely show higher Fst values indicating greater genetic divergence among their populations compared to the more mobile and widespread coyotes.

Step-by-step explanation:

The concept in question here is related to genetic divergence and how different species might exhibit variability in their genetic differentiation across populations, which can be measured using Fst values. The Fst value, or fixation index, is a statistic that measures the genetic variation between subpopulations relative to the total genetic variation. If one were to study populations of bighorn sheep and coyotes, one might expect the bighorn sheep to show higher Fst values than coyotes when considering their respective biology and behaviors. Bighorn sheep tend to have more restricted movement patterns and are less widespread than coyotes, which may reduce gene flow and result in higher genetic differentiation among their populations.



On the other hand, coyotes have a broad range and are known to be highly mobile, which increases gene flow between their populations and results in lower Fst values. Essentially, the migration patterns, behaviors, breeding systems, and the relative isolation of bighorn sheep would likely contribute to greater genetic divergence among their populations compared to coyotes.

User Juan Reina Pascual
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