Small founder samples cause random genetic drift in evolving populations

Evidence

Treatments in a scientific experiment need to be replicated, however, to minimize the possibility of arriving at results by chance. Populations shift gradually from generation to generation simply as a result of serendipity. Picture a large jar full of fifty different colors of jelly beans, all mixed together. Reach in and scoop out a thousand and move them to a new jar. Chances are, you will happen to include most, if not all, of the fifty original types. Some might be a bit better represented in your scoopfuls than they had been before, but these changes in flavor frequency are likely to be minor. The jelly beans in the new jar should resemble the blend of flavors that were present in the old jar. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 289

Categorization

• XREF: The jelly-bean sampling analogy neatly explains genetic drift, connecting to why small founder populations (like isolated human war bands) drift genetically and culturally. — connects to: Small founder samples make artificial selection results vulnerable to chance — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 291; Replicated divergent selection populations rule out chance in evolution experiments — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 293; Evolution is nonrandom even though mutation is random — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 888 (+1 more)

Related

• Small founder samples make artificial selection results vulnerable to chance (similarity 0.88)
• Replicated divergent selection populations rule out chance in evolution experiments (similarity 0.83)
• Evolution is nonrandom even though mutation is random (similarity 0.82)
• Artificial selection directly tests whether populations evolve in response (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Replicated divergent selection populations rule out chance in evolution experiments #contradicts (0.60) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 293
• Evolution is nonrandom even though mutation is random #qualifies (0.40) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 888