Question

sexual reproduction: drawbacks

1. which archipelago (island chain) did lonesome george live on?
2. what does the term outbred mean? (third paragraph)
3. which disadvantage or drawback of sexual reproduction does the case of lonesome george highlight?
4. there are other disadvantages of sexual reproduction when compared to asexual reproduction. can you suggest what these may be?

Explanation:

1. Lonesome George was a giant tortoise from the Pinta Island in the Galapagos archipelago.
2. Without the context of the third - paragraph, it's impossible to define "foundermed". But generally, in biology, founder effect relates to a new population being established by a very small number of individuals from a larger population.
3. Lonesome George was the last of his kind, highlighting the risk of low genetic diversity and difficulty in finding mates in sexual reproduction, which can lead to extinction.
4. Other drawbacks of sexual reproduction compared to asexual reproduction include the energy and time spent on finding a mate, the risk of sexually - transmitted diseases, and the fact that only half of an organism's genes are passed on to each offspring.

Answer:

1. Pinta Island in the Galapagos archipelago
2. Cannot be determined without context
3. Low genetic diversity and difficulty in finding mates
4. Energy and time spent on finding a mate, risk of sexually - transmitted diseases, passing on only half of genes to each offspring