As a wildebeest herd migrated across the Serengeti, some of the animals died?

Question

The gene pool of this herd will
A. lose much adaptive DNA information
B. remain, on average, undisturbed
C. retain the most adaptive, or best, DNA information
D. both lose and gain adaptive DNA information

Answer 1

I would say C. The animals that died were weaker than the animals that survived. Their deaths might have occured because they did not possess the genes that enabled them to survive. The wildebeests that survived had adaptations that allowed them to better adapt to the environment.

However, it could also be B. Perhaps the animals that died were just old and died of natural causes.

In my opinion, this question is poorly worded.

Answer 2

For one group of animals, I'd say it's B
Gene pools are affected more by things that happen across generations. If every migration lost a bunch near the alligators every year, for instance, they'd gain more genes that were careful of the water. But one time is pretty much irrelevant. It could be a storm, it could be a higher predator population, a freak disease, etc...

Answer 3

I would have to choose B since most genetic variations (such as adapation) require many generations to change. The lose of a handful of animals out of the thousands that were in the herd would have little to no effect on the viability of the herd.