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> There's no true "minimum viable population size" as far as we know For most vertebrates, it’s as low as 2. For some species, it could be 1. Definitely more t
by nkrisc 3y ago
> There's no true "minimum viable population size" as far as we know
For most vertebrates, it’s as low as 2. For some species, it could be 1. Definitely more than 0.
- londons_explore 3y agoNote that many animal species have the ability to store millions of sperm or fertilized eggs from other individuals for many years. Such a behaviour might be a way to increase genetic diversity while populations are tiny. Note that tiny populations can occur frequently when the environment has millions of barriers between tiny populations - eg. a water dwelling creature living in millions of tiny pools and unable to pass from one pool to the next until there is a major flood, which might only be once per thousand years.