Which of the following conditions is not required to be true for a population in...
Which of the following conditions is not required to be true for a population in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?
- A. Large population
- B. No natural selection
- C Random mutations
- D. Random mating
Correct Answer: C Random mutations
Explanation
The Hardy-Weinberg principle asserts that allele frequencies in a population remain constant; for example, if 50% of people have blue eyes, then each successive generation will continue to have 50% of people with blue eyes as long as certain assumptions are met. The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium assumes that within a population random mating occurs, no migration occurs, no mutations occur, no natural selection occurs, and the population is sufficiently large. If any of these assumptions are not met, the allele frequencies of the population will change, causing the population to evolve. For this question, all of the answer choices except Random mutations (remember there must be no mutations) are required assumptions for the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium to be in effect.