More and more threatened species are relying on captive breeding to avoid extinction. Some species on the brink only exist in captivity, and others depend on captive breeding for their recovery before they're released to ...
Plants & Animals
Dec 04, 2020
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3
Biologists have long known that inbreeding can be detrimental. Inbreeding results in less genetic variation, making species more vulnerable if changes occur that require them to adapt.
Evolution
Jul 30, 2020
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24
Habitat destruction results in wildlife populations that are small, made up of relatives, and have low genetic variation.
Plants & Animals
Aug 01, 2019
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17
A new paper explores the genetic signatures of a pair of wolves isolated on Isle Royale, a remote national park in Lake Superior. The pair are father-daughter and share the same mother. Such close inbreeding leads to genetic ...
Ecology
May 29, 2019
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144
Inbreeding could lead to increased rates of cancer, putting both humans and endangered animals at risk according to a review led by researchers at Deakin University's Centre for Integrative Ecology.
Ecology
Mar 22, 2018
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8
Researchers at the University of Valencia's Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology have put the 'unguarded X hypothesis' to the test and confirmed that differences in lifespan between the sexes, a widespread ...
Biotechnology
Jul 20, 2016
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3
Pieces of DNA that predict lifespan are shorter in birds that are inbred - according to new research from the University of East Anglia (UEA).
Plants & Animals
May 17, 2016
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279
Currently, many threatened and endangered species are present in captivity. Their management is mostly focused on keeping the population viable (both demographically and genetically) and as similar to the wild ancestor populations ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 14, 2016
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11
A German shepherd with a sloping back that was awarded best of breed brought the dog show Crufts in for this year's annual bout of criticism. Viewers took to social media to accuse the owner of animal cruelty by suggesting ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 18, 2016
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41
Inbred animals have fewer surviving offspring compared with others, a study of red deer in the wild has found.
Plants & Animals
Mar 14, 2016
0
41
Inbreeding is breeding between close relatives, whether plant or animal. If practiced repeatedly, it can lead to exposure of recessive, deleterious traits. This generally leads to a decreased fitness of a population, which is called inbreeding depression. Deleterious alleles causing inbreeding depression can subsequently be removed through culling. This is known as genetic purging.
Livestock breeders often practice inbreeding to "fix" desirable characteristics within a population. However, they must then cull unfit offspring, especially when trying to establish the new and desirable trait in their stock.
In plant breeding, inbred lines are used as stocks for the creation of hybrid lines to make use of the heterosis effect. Inbreeding in plants also occurs naturally in the form of self-pollination.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
