Which of the following is an advantage of haplodiploidy?
Increases genetic diversity
Increases the number of offspring produced
Decreases the chance of inbreeding
All of the above
Haplodiploidy is a mechanism of sex determination in which females are diploid (two sets of chromosomes) and males are haploid (one set of chromosomes). This mechanism is found in some groups of organisms, such as bees and ants.
One advantage of haplodiploidy is that it increases genetic diversity within a population. This is because sisters share more genes with each other than they do with their own offspring. This means that if a colony has many sisters, there will be a higher proportion of genetic diversity within the colony than if there were only a few sisters. This increased genetic diversity can be advantageous in adapting to changing environments.
Another advantage of haplodiploidy is that it allows for greater control over the sex ratio of offspring. This is because females can choose to lay unfertilized eggs (which will develop into males) or fertilized eggs (which will develop into females). This can be useful in situations where there are environmental or social factors that favor one sex over the other.
Finally, haplodiploidy can decrease the chance of inbreeding within a population. This is because males have only one set of chromosomes, which they receive from their mother. This means that if a male mates with his sister, the resulting offspring will be more likely to have harmful recessive genes exposed. In contrast, in diploid-diploid sex determination systems (such as in humans), there is a higher chance of inbreeding because both parents contribute one set of chromosomes to the offspring.
Option d is the correct answer,