The sea otter (Enhydra lutris) is an endangered species of mustelid native to th

Question

The sea otter (Enhydra lutris) is an endangered species of mustelid native to the northern Pacific Ocean. Allele frequencies for two (fictitious) microsatellite loci for a small Californian population of sea otters on San Nicolas Island are shown below. a) If a female otter has the genotype 144/144 129/131 and her offspring has the genotype 144/146 129/131, what is the probability that you could rule out a randomly chosen male in this population as the father? b) There are two candidate males (named Hagrid and Snape) that are candidates to be the father of the offspring described in part (a). Which is most likely? Hagrid: 144/146 129/129 Snape: 146/152 131/131

Explanation / Answer

a) There are two candidate males that are candidates to be the father of the offspring.

Probability that a randomly chosen male in the population is the father = 1/2 = 0.5

Therefore, the probability that I could rule out a randomly chosen male as father = 1- P( randomly chosen male is the father)

= 1- 0.5

= 0.5

b) Genotype of mother = 144/144 129/131

Genotype of offspring =144/146 129/131

Genotype of father (most likely) =144/146 129/129 (Hagrid)

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