dkysh t1_j50ssc6 wrote
Reply to comment by JFSOCC in Given that reproduction is difficult or impossible when both animals have different numbers of chromosomes, how did so many species evolve to have so many different numbers of them? by MercurioLeCher
If we were bacteria, yeah, sure. But we are extremely complicated multicellular organisms. A whole genome trisomy screws up the balance of gene expression to such an extreme that most trisomies are simply lethal and never observed (they end up in miscarriage).
A gene fusion is a less drastic event, where 2 chromosomes happen to be connected, but the genetic load is identical.
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