12. Imagine a population of captive giant tortoises housed at the Charles Darwin Research Station. The captive breeders are attempting to increase body-size and select for saddle-shaped shells in response to ecotourism demands for giant tortoise rides. A parental population of giant tortoises had an average body mass of 250 kg. The captive breeders selected 10 males and 10 females from the general population that had an average body mass of 275 kg. Following this round of mating, the surviving offspring were an average of 260 kg when full grown.
a. Calculate the narrow sense heritability (h2) for body size in this population of giant tortoises
b. If the breeders select 20 of the smallest adult individuals from the general population that have an average body mass of 200 kg, what will be the expected average body mass of their offspring? Assume that the narrow sense heritability stays the same.
12. Imagine a population of captive giant tortoises housed at the Charles Darwin Research Station. The captive breeders are attempting to increase body-size and select for saddle-shaped shells in response to ecotourism demands for giant tortoise rides. A parental population of giant tortoises had an average body mass of 250 kg. The captive breeders selected 10 males and 10 females from the general population that had an average body mass of 275 kg. Following this round of mating, the surviving offspring were an average of 260 kg when full grown.
a. Calculate the narrow sense heritability (h2) for body size in this population of giant tortoises
b. If the breeders select 20 of the smallest adult individuals from the general population that have an average body mass of 200 kg, what will be the expected average body mass of their offspring? Assume that the narrow sense heritability stays the same.
