Genetic Research Quick Check 4 of 54 of 5 Items Question In mice, the gene for tail length has two alleles. A long tail is dominant to a short tail. If a long-tailed mouse that is heterozygous mates with a short-tailed mouse, what are the chances of having offspring with short tails?(1 point) Responses 75% 75% 50% 50% 25% 25% 100% 100% Skip to navigation page 12 of 12

Answer 1

To solve this problem, we need to understand the inheritance of alleles for tail length in mice.

1. Let’s denote the alleles:

   • L = long tail (dominant)
   • l = short tail (recessive)

2. From the problem:

   • The long-tailed mouse that is heterozygous would have the genotype Ll.
   • The short-tailed mouse has the genotype ll.

3. Now, we can set up a Punnett square to determine the possible genotypes of the offspring:

       L      l
     ______________
  l |   Ll   |  ll  |
    |_________|______|
  l |   Ll   |  ll  |
    |_________|______|

4. From the Punnett square, the possible offspring genotypes are:

   • Ll (long tail)
   • ll (short tail)

5. The ratios of the genotypes are:

   • 50% Ll (long-tailed)
   • 50% ll (short-tailed)

6. Therefore, the chances of having offspring with short tails (genotype ll) is 50%.

So, the answer is 50%.