you are asked to help produce bushy-tailed squirrels from a local population as
ID: 168015 • Letter: Y
Question
you are asked to help produce bushy-tailed squirrels from a local population as quickly and efficiently as possible. Of course, you know that bushy tails are a quantitative genetic trait in squirrels. What specific piece of information (what type of data) would you need to obtain in order to determine whether or not the task of breeding bushy-tailed squirrels could be successful? How would you expect this value to change over time as you produced squirrels with bushier and bushier tails?you are asked to help produce bushy-tailed squirrels from a local population as quickly and efficiently as possible. Of course, you know that bushy tails are a quantitative genetic trait in squirrels. What specific piece of information (what type of data) would you need to obtain in order to determine whether or not the task of breeding bushy-tailed squirrels could be successful? How would you expect this value to change over time as you produced squirrels with bushier and bushier tails?you are asked to help produce bushy-tailed squirrels from a local population as quickly and efficiently as possible. Of course, you know that bushy tails are a quantitative genetic trait in squirrels. What specific piece of information (what type of data) would you need to obtain in order to determine whether or not the task of breeding bushy-tailed squirrels could be successful? How would you expect this value to change over time as you produced squirrels with bushier and bushier tails?
Explanation / Answer
Answer:
(a) The most important thing you need to know is the heritability of tail-bushiness in your local squirrel population. Given the heritability, you can predict the response you would expect from the selection you will impose on tail-bushiness.
(b) Polygenic traits (unlike monogenic traits) do not follow patterns of Mendelian inheritance (discrete categories). Instead, their phenotypes typically vary along a continuous gradient depicted by a bell curve. So, its possible to get squirrels with varying tail business.
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