>The genetic bottleneck for cheetahs was some time between 10000 and
>5000 years ago -
>there's a bit about it here:
>
>http://www.cheetah.org/cheetah/cheetahfaq.htm
>
>I believe it was picked up through mtDNA studies, like the
>Mitochondrial Eve thing.
>
>Poor cheetahs. Oh well, life is change...
>Maybe they'll pull through, with human intervention. Here's a question -if the
>species would have become extinct anyway, *should* we?
>
>It's actually quite amazing how little genetic diversity there is in
>some species -
>and not just teetering-on-the-brink types. Plenty of plants, and
>some animals get
>along with virtually none. The founder effect is only really a
>problem if there are
>"defective genes" present in the population in the first place...
>
>Heath
So what is the current population of cheetahs? And how can there
*not* be "defective genes" present in the founder? Doesn't
diploidicity make such "defective genes" almost inevitable?
Brad DeLong
GCU Cheetahs Nevah Prospah
