A few individuals of a lizard species from the mainland are transported to a distant island by riding on floating driftwood. These few individuals survive, reproduce, and their descendants make up a population of this species that is distinct from the population on the mainland. This occurrence is an example of

the founder effect, a form of genetic drift

Explanation:

Genetic drift is the change in the frequency of alleles in a population due to random sampling of organisms.

The founder effect is the reduced genetic diversity created when a population is descended from a small number of colonizing ancestors.

haploid cells;

a covalent bond, specfically triple bond