Flashcard Review: Patterns of Inheritance

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What is inherited behavior?

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Inherited behavior is a trait or action that is passed down from parents to offspring through genes, such as a bird knowing how to build a nest.

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What is learned behavior?

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Learned behavior is a skill or action that an individual acquires through experience or observation, such as a dog learning to fetch.

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What is codominance in genetics?

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Codominance is a form of inheritance where both alleles in a heterozygous individual contribute equally and visibly to the organism's phenotype, such as a calico cat showing both orange and black fur.

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What is incomplete dominance?

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Incomplete dominance is a genetic situation in which one allele does not completely dominate another allele, resulting in a new phenotype that is a blend of the two, such as red and white flowers producing pink flowers.

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What is the difference between inherited and acquired traits?

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Inherited traits are passed down genetically from parents, while acquired traits are learned or developed through experience.

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What is an allele?

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An allele is a variant form of a gene that can produce different traits, such as different colors of flowers.

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What is phenotype?

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Phenotype is the observable physical or biochemical characteristics of an organism, determined by both genetic makeup and environmental influences.

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What is genotype?

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Genotype is the genetic constitution of an individual, representing the alleles inherited from both parents.

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What is independent assortment?

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Independent assortment is the principle that alleles for different traits are distributed to gametes independently of one another during meiosis.

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What is a dominant allele?

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A dominant allele is an allele that expresses its trait even when only one copy is present in the genotype.