What genetic event affecting effective population size occurred prior to the split of Western and Eastern lineages?
Answer
A significant reduction in effective population size (demographic crash)
Genomic studies of the Western gorilla have illuminated past demographic instabilities that affected population health long before current conservation crises. Specifically, evidence points to a significant demographic crash, resulting in a reduction of the effective population size, occurring even before the primary split between the Western and Eastern lineages separated. Such bottlenecks severely reduce genetic diversity and can fix specific traits rapidly. Similar, though more recent, bottlenecks are also associated with the later separation of the Western Lowland and Cross River subspecies.
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