LogFAQs > #960143278

Unbridled9 posted...

The point I'm trying to make here is that being 'inbreeding free' is both a statistical impossibility (because the number of ancestors you'd need is insane just to have 0 inbreeding) and a logical one (because there's been so many bottlenecks for a multitude of reasons). The whole 'village where everyone ends up second cousins' is more an example of how, even when trying to avoid it, it becomes near-impossible to do so in a relatively closed-off community with little to no chance to travel.

I mean, it doesn't stop being inbreeding just because interbreeding is impractical. In those populations that are isolated from the rest of the species and have no choice but to inbreed, you will see a general reduction in fitness compared to the general population, which is called "inbreeding depression." The extent to which that becomes a problem depends on just how bad the inbreeding is, but it's still going to happen.

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