Before You Begin
Question #46488
The Question
Modern technological and medical advancements act as an extreme form of environmental buffering for Homo sapiens, significantly relaxing natural selection pressures. According to the principles of population genetics, what is the most likely long-term evolutionary consequence of this relaxed selection on human traits?
Options
- A.
A continuous increase in cranial capacity due to directional selection favoring advanced cognitive phenotypes.
- B.
An increase in the genetic load of the population due to the accumulation of deleterious alleles.
- C.
A decrease in the frequency of recessive mutations due to the absence of environmental bottlenecks.
- D.
Stabilization of allelic frequencies, ensuring the population remains in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.
Check Your Answer
Correct Answer
Step-by-Step Solution
Explanation
How the Examiner Thinks
Evolutionary_Exception
Tackle problems where standard rules evolve or change based on specific environmental constraints.
Concepts Behind This Question
Hominid Cranial Capacity|Ex-situ Conservation Techniques
Why This Question Is Tricky
Common Mistakes
Conceptual Pivot: Students often confuse the absence of natural selection with 'progressive' evolution.
A common misconception is that modern humans are still undergoing directional selection for larger brains or higher intelligence (Option A).
In reality, removing survival pressures (relaxing selection) stops directional selection and allows deleterious mutations to accumulate, thereby increasing the genetic load.
Quick Facts About This Question
Question Information
| Subject | Biology |
| Chapter | Evolution - Class 12 |
| Concept | Hominid Cranial Capacity |
| Difficulty | 8 |
| Cognitive Load | 5 |
| Target Solve Time | 120 sec |
| Access | Free |