Question

Researchers are studying the nestlings of brown finches in the Galapagos Islands. Baby finches exist in two color morphs, brown or yellow. Researchers reported that a population of baby finches at the southernmost island included 249 yellow finches and 514 brown finches. They assumed that finch color is controlled by two alleles at a single locus.

• Calculate the frequencies of all three possible genotypes, assuming that brown is dominant and that the population is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.

  homozygous dominant frequency _____

  heterozygous frequency ______

  homozygous recessive frequency ______

• Assume that brown is dominant. Yellow finches are at an increased risk of predation by a predatory bird, the South American skua. If 299 brown finches survive to adulthood, but only 150 yellow ones do, calculate the relative fitness of both of these phenotypes based on this level of predation.

  relative fitness of brown finches ______

  relative fitness of yellow finches _______

    

Answer 1