All of the provided options can explain why offspring may exhibit traits that differ from those of their parents, but the options that most directly address the genetics involved are:
a. Some traits are recessive and could present in the offspring while remaining unseen in the parents. This is true because if both parents carry a recessive allele for a trait but do not express it, their offspring could inherit those alleles and express the recessive trait.
c. Sometimes mutations occur that generate new phenotypes. Mutations can create new traits that were not present in either parent, leading to offspring with characteristics not previously observed in the lineage.
d. Errors in meiosis can create new combinations of traits. While errors often lead to issues such as genetic disorders or aneuploidy, the process of recombination during meiosis does result in new combinations of alleles, contributing to genetic diversity.
Option b focuses on dominance but does not address the full range of genetic explanations for trait expression. Therefore, the best answers to why offspring can have traits that are not like their parents are a, c, and d.