Bias toward mating with relatives is known as?

Inbreeding describes the preference for mating with relatives, leading to a higher chance of offspring inheriting similar genetic traits from both parents. This phenomenon occurs in populations where related individuals tend to breed more frequently than unrelated individuals, potentially increasing the frequency of homozygous genotypes. While inbreeding can have consequences such as increased vulnerability to genetic disorders due to the expression of deleterious alleles, it plays an important role in the genetic structure of many populations, particularly in isolated or small groups.

The other terms provided relate to different concepts in population genetics. Selection refers to the process by which certain traits become more common in a population due to advantages these traits confer on survival and reproduction. Genetic drift describes random changes in allele frequencies in a population, particularly in small populations, where chance events can significantly impact genetic variation. Assortative mating refers to a mating pattern in which individuals with similar phenotypes or genotypes tend to mate more frequently, which can lead to a form of selection but is not specifically about relatives. Thus, the term inbreeding is distinct in its direct relation to mating among relatives.