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Why is human genetic diversity so low?

Best Answers

Human genetic diversity is very high. It is just very unequally distributed between populations and across the globe. Genetic diversity is the outcome of numerous biological and environmental factors. read more

Human genetic diversity is very high. It is just very unequally distributed between populations and across the globe. Genetic diversity is the outcome of numerous biological and environmental factors. The biggest factor is time, and above all the accumulation of new mutations over evolutionary time. read more

For example, the subspecies of the chimpanzee that lives just in central Africa, Pan troglodytes troglodytes, has higher levels of diversity than do humans globally, and the genetic differentiation between the western (P. t. verus) and central (P. t. troglodytes) subspecies of chimpanzees is much greater than that between human populations. read more

For example, cheetahs have critically low genetic diversity, but this is largely a result of human intervention. It's not entirely clear why humans have such low genetic diversity. Perhaps someone with a better knowledge of human ancestry can explain this, but in general, I think its fair to say that the processes through which some species come to have more diversity than others are often somewhat obscure. read more

Image Answers

The Human Genome and Human Evolution - ppt download
Source: slideplayer.com

Further Research

Consequences of low genetic diversity
maize.teacherfriendlyguide.org

Modern Human Diversity
humanorigins.si.edu