Haiti is settled by peoples of both African and European ancestry. A young couple, both with mixed ancestry, marry and have several children. The children vary widely in the amount of skin melanin production, with one child being lighter than both parents, and one being darker. The simple explanation for this is
A) epistasis.
B) multiple alleles are available for the one chromosomal locus that governs skin color.
C) the environment affected the phenotype that developed.
D) polygenic inheritance.
E) gene linkage.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The variation in skin color among siblings of mixed ancestry is likely due to polygenic inheritance, which means that many genes contribute to the phenotype. Skin color is determined by multiple genes, and each gene has different alleles that can influence the amount of melanin produced. Therefore, the children can inherit different combinations of alleles that would result in varying skin colors. This is a common occurrence in populations with mixed ancestry.

Haiti Is Settled by Peoples of Both African and European