> What is "adapted to inbreeding"?. Is that like Tasmanians; appear normal but
> are all related ??? :-).
Sort of. :-) Basically the idea is that some species have purged their
genomes of bad alleles (ie deleterious recessives [ie death or poor
survival]. For instance according to some aspects of genetic theory a
fish like Devil's Hole pupfish that probably hasn't exceeded 800
individuals in perhaps 10,000 years or more should have gone extinct by
now. Pupfish tend to inhabit small isolated habitats with only
occasional mixing, thus inbreeding is common. Same thing in desert
gobies and probably redfinned blue eyes. One would predict that within
population variation would be low relative to between population
variation, although there are many variables here, ie that was a broad
generalisation that doesn't always hold. Depends on the history of the
species. To try to make this a little easier to understand think of it
this way. Some species don't do well if outbred (outbreeding depression)
as it is thought that there are series of coevolved genes that when outbred
get broken up with a resulting lower fitness. Some species can't be inbred
as this brings deleterious recessive alleles together, thus lowering
fitness (probably the most common). Some species can be inbred or
outbred as they are thought to have lost most of their variation and
deleterious alleles thus it doesn't matter what the hell you do to them.
Variation in species is not always a good thing to have despite what we
always get told. Lets just say there are no easy answers in biology.
:-) Now I bet everyone is as clear as mud on the subject. If you don't
follow please say so and I will attempt to clear things up.
Hooroo
Peter J Unmack peter.unmack at asu.edu
---------------------------------------------------------------
DESERT FISHES RULE: To boldly thrive where no other fish can make it!
Australian desert fishes pages at ozdesertfish.base.org (don't forget to
visit the Desert Fishes Council pages too)
Native Fish Australia pages at nfa.base.org (under construction)