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+--- Thread: Mountain gorillas: The champion survivors of inbreeding (/thread-728.html)
Mountain gorillas: The champion survivors of inbreeding - C C - Apr 9, 2015
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn27316-extreme-inbreeding-is-no-big-deal-for-mountain-gorillas.html
EXCERPT: Finally, some good news for mountain gorillas. The highly endangered apes have been so rare for so long that they have already weathered the initial genetic storms of inbreeding and could face clearer sailing ahead, if conservationists can protect their habitat. [...] High levels of inbreeding increase the odds that an individual will get copies of a harmful mutation from both parents [...] The gorillas were even more inbred than they expected [...] But the team show that both mountain and eastern lowland gorillas actually carry fewer of the most harmful mutations...