I am trying to figure out the answer to this question? There are mixed answers to this question from different sources.
Campbell's biology textbook states that mutations are rare and that large genetic variations in a population of organisms that reproduce sexually is due to genetic recombination. However, this book does not tell me which source of genetic variability, mutations or recombination, produce the largest genetic variations which natural selection operates on.
However, an Anthropology (a science that studies humans within the contexts of biology and culture) textbook states that "Mutations are the most important source of variety
on which natural selection depends and operates."
I am confused. Which is the most important source of variety
on which natural selection depends and operates, mutations or genetic recombination?
Am I correct in stating that, within a population of sexually reproducing organisms, genetic recombination produces more genetic variation compared to mutations and thus is a more important source on of variability on which natural selection operates, whereas in populations of organisms that reproduce asexually mutations are the only source of variability on which natural selection operates?
Thanks.