Blog Post Module 6

The biggest possible benefit of inbreeding is when two individuals have an advantageous mutation and they breed together to produce offspring with the same mutation, that is paving the way for adaptation in the population. This would absolutely help lead to the evolution of assortative mating because individuals within populations are figuring out that mating with others like you may help your niche group develop advantages over those in the group that look different. Though there are benefits like this to inbreeding, the costs far outweigh the benefits most of the time.

The biggest downfall of inbreeding is the higher likelihood to pass on recessive, deleterious mutations. Under normal breeding, deleterious recessive mutations would be overshadowed by a mating partner with the dominant allele and the offspring wouldn't have to carry the deleterious mutation. Under inbreeding, there is a much higher likelihood that both mating partners will carry the same deleterious mutation that will continue to harm the rest of their bloodline. A fantastic example of this are French Bulldogs! My dad and stepmom have a lovely little frenchie named Louis, and although they are fantastic and adorable dogs, they are unfortunately a product of reckless inbreeding. I have several pictures to illustrate this (they should be below, but sometimes these get put at the top against my will)! Picture #1 is the single bulldog by himself--you can see he has a decently protruding snout that probably allows him to breathe pretty well. Then Picture #2 is the side-by-side, and the extremely flat-faced frenchie is unfortunately what most french bulldogs have been bred to look like now. Inbreeding caused the traits of a flat face to continue to get worse and worse in the french bulldog breed because breeders were chasing a certain specific "aesthetic" instead of thinking about the dog's health.  Alas, there is still hope for french bulldogs! There are breeders in the Netherlands trying to repair the damage done to the french bulldog breed--the product of this can be seen as the dog with the much more pronounced snout in the side-by-side photo. This is great news because responsible breeders can really help the future happiness and quality of life for breeds like this--my parents own french bulldog had to get his nostrils widened just to help with breathing issues! That's crazy, and I'm glad breeders are taking steps to fix this. Anyway, yeah that's the gist about inbreeding! In very particular cases it can be okay or even beneficial, but most of the time you should probably leave your cousins alone so you don't get babies with tails, horns, or a third eye. Happy disassortative mating!


Picture #1Picture #2

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