1. How could comparing all the alleles found in the mountain junco populations to all the alleles found in the UCSD population help us determine if a baby bird had a dad that was from the mountain population or a dad that was from the UCSD population?
2. Do you think it would be necessary to sample all of the birds in the population to collect that DNA or could scientists compare DNA from a smaller sample of birds from both areas and still draw reliable conclusions?
PART 2
Summary of article “Genetic and morphological evolution following a founder event in the dark-eyed junco, Junco hyemalis thurberi” by C. A. Rasner, P. Yeh, L. S. Eggert, K. E. Hunt, D. S. Woodruff and T. D. Price, found in the Lesson 26 Article & Data Packet.
3. How do patterns in allele 208 (at locus Gf05) found in samples of the UCSD population vs. the Laguna mountain population (LG), provide evidence that something is preventing most male UCSD juncos from migrating back to the mountains and interbreeding with females in that population?
4. How does the continued absence of certain alleles in the UCSD population help support the claim that there has been very little (or no) cross-breeding between males from the mountains and UCSD females since the founding event?
NEXT STEPS:
5. Our model for how DNA is passed on from parent to offspring in sexually reproducing organisms assumes that all the DNA that a child inherits is 100% identical to the DNA found in mom and dad (50% from each). Do you think it is ever possible that a child ends up with some DNA that isn’t completely identical to the DNA of their parents? Explain.
6. What data sources would you need in order to investigate these ideas and these questions further?
