In 1959, a Russian geneticist began breeding silver foxes. He chose the tamest individuals from each generation for breeding. In addition to becoming tamer, there were observable changes in the appearance of the foxes. The foxes began to look more puppy-like with wider faces and floppier ears. Could this pattern of inheritance be predicted by Mendel’s laws of inheritance?

A. Yes; Punnett squares can be used to predict the inheritance of different traits from a single gene.
B. Yes; Mendel’s laws of inheritance can be used to predict complex traits such as pleiotropy.
C. No; this is not a single-gene, single-phenotype pattern and cannot be predicted by Mendel’s laws of inheritance.
D. No; Mendel’s laws of inheritance can only be used to predict the outcomes of genetic crosses in plants.

1 answer

C. No; this is not a single-gene, single-phenotype pattern and cannot be predicted by Mendel’s laws of inheritance.