Discuss examples of positive and negative assortative mating in natural populations, human populations, and agriculturally important species.

Human Heredity: Principles and Issues (MindTap Course List)
11th Edition
ISBN:9781305251052
Author:Michael Cummings
Publisher:Michael Cummings
Chapter19: Population Genetics And Human Evolution
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 8QP: How Can We Measure Allele Frequencies in Populations? In a population where the females have the...
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Discuss examples of positive and negative assortative mating in natural populations, human populations, and agriculturally important species.

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Assortative mating is a kind of non-random mating. In this type of mating, sexual selection is done between the organisms. In this type of mating, individuals having similar phenotypes will mate with each other more frequently as compared to the individuals having dissimilar phenotypes.

Similar phenotypes can be body size, skin color, pigmentation etc.

Example - jumping spider Phidippus clarus and the leaf beetle Diaprepes abbreviatus.

Assortative mating is of two types:

  1. Positive assortative mating: In this type of mating, individuals having similar phenotypes will mate with each other more frequently as compared to the individuals having dissimilar phenotypes.
  2. Negative assortative mating: In this type of mating, individuals having dissimilar phenotypes will mate with each other more frequently as compared to the individuals having similar phenotypes.
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