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this post was submitted on 16 Jan 2024
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Today I Learned (TIL)
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Just because a gene has become popular in a population doesn't necessarily mean it provides an evolutionary advantage. It can also be genetic hitchhiking, where a non-advantageous gene tags along with an advantageous one because they're located close together. Or even just genetic drift, where a gene becomes popular due to random chance.
There could be an advantage for this trait, but there doesn't need to be.
Also these are domestic goats, so the advantage could literally be "humans thought it was neat".