Mating between close relatives.

Mating between close relatives.

• A. Sexual selection
• B. Inbreeding
• C. Gene flow
• D. Genetic drift

Answer: (B)

Inbreeding is mating between relatives. This pattern raises the chance that an offspring will inherit two copies of the same allele from a common ancestor, increasing homozygosity across the genome. When individuals share more alleles, recessive deleterious alleles are more likely to pair up and be expressed, which can reduce fitness—a situation known as inbreeding depression. This concept is distinct from sexual selection (traits that boost mating success), gene flow (movement of genes between populations), and genetic drift (random changes in allele frequencies, especially in small populations).

Inbreeding is mating between relatives. This pattern raises the chance that an offspring will inherit two copies of the same allele from a common ancestor, increasing homozygosity across the genome. When individuals share more alleles, recessive deleterious alleles are more likely to pair up and be expressed, which can reduce fitness—a situation known as inbreeding depression. This concept is distinct from sexual selection (traits that boost mating success), gene flow (movement of genes between populations), and genetic drift (random changes in allele frequencies, especially in small populations).