Question

recently a squirrel population has seen an increase in brown squirrels. the anthropologists used the hardy-weinberg equation and determined that 40% had the brown allele. brown is the dominant trait in squirrels. what is this representative of in the hardy-weinberg equation? 1. 2pq 2. p2 3. q2 4. q 5. p

Answer 1

The 40% brown allele frequency in the squirrel population represents the 'p' variable in the Hardy-Weinberg equation. Since brown is dominant, 'p' stands for the dominant brown allele frequency, and 'p²' reflects the frequency of homozygous dominant individuals in the population, which corresponds to option 2 in the multiple-choice options presented.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the Hardy-Weinberg equation, the frequency of the dominant allele is represented by the variable p. Given that the question states that 40% of the population has the brown allele, which is dominant in squirrels, and we consider this as the frequency of the dominant allele, then p would equal 0.40, or 40%. The equation is p²+2pq+q²=1, where p² represents the frequency of homozygous dominant individuals, 2pq represents the frequency of heterozygotic individuals, and q² represents the frequency of homozygous recessive individuals.

Since p equals 40%, q must be calculated as 1-p to ensure that p+q equals 1. In this case, q would equal 60%, or 0.60. Therefore, p² would represent individuals homozygous for the brown allele, which is option 2 on the provided list.