🤯 Did You Know (click to read)
Genetic drift has stronger effects in small populations than in large ones.
In very small populations, genetic drift exerts stronger influence than natural selection. Random fluctuations in allele frequency can fix or eliminate traits irrespective of adaptive value. For the South China tiger, a limited founder base magnifies this effect. Over generations, drift can reduce diversity and entrench harmful variants. Unlike large populations, small groups lack buffering capacity against randomness. This accelerates evolutionary narrowing.
💥 Impact (click to read)
Genetic drift operates quietly but persistently. In a population numbering under a few hundred, chance events during reproduction can disproportionately alter genetic structure. Such changes may reduce fitness over time. Without gene flow from wild counterparts, drift compounds in isolation. The subspecies becomes genetically fragile.
Managing drift requires deliberate breeding strategies aimed at maximizing heterozygosity. Yet artificial management cannot fully replicate natural dispersal across vast landscapes. The South China tiger’s isolation transforms evolutionary dynamics from open-system selection to closed-system drift. Its survival now hinges on mitigating randomness at the molecular level. Few apex predators face such constrained evolutionary conditions.
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