Question

A student claims that dominant traits are always the most common traits. Is this true? Why or why not?(1 point)
Responses

No, dominant traits in general tend to be less common in the population and continue to persist only because they are dominant over more common recessive alleles.
No, dominant traits in general tend to be less common in the population and continue to persist only because they are dominant over more common recessive alleles.

Yes, dominant traits are called dominant because they are the most common.
Yes, dominant traits are called dominant because they are the most common.

Yes, dominant traits became more common over time as they are passed down from generation to generation; recessive alleles continue to become less common over time.
Yes, dominant traits became more common over time as they are passed down from generation to generation; recessive alleles continue to become less common over time.

No, dominant traits only show up if they are inherited;

Answer 1

No. Dominance describes how an allele is expressed in a heterozygote, not how common the allele is in a population. An allele can be dominant and rare (e.g., Huntington’s disease) or recessive and common (e.g., the O blood type in many populations). Allele frequency is set by selection, mutation, drift, migration, and history — not by whether an allele is dominant.