If a pure-breeding long-tail cat (LL) is crossed with a pure-breeding cat with no tail (rumpy, ll), and a cat with a short tail (stumpy) is produced, the simplest explanation is a(n) ____ gene.
A)mutated
B)X-linked
C)incompletely dominant
D)lethal
E)pleiotropic

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This is most likely an example of incomplete dominance, where the LL allele for long-tails is not completely dominant over the ll allele for no tails, resulting in an intermediate phenotype of a short tail in the stumpy offspring. The other choices are not as likely explanations: A) mutated gene implies a random change in genetic material rather than a normal genetic inheritance pattern; B) X-linked genes are not probable in this scenario as tail length is not linked to sex chromosomes; D) lethal genes would not produce an offspring; and E) pleiotropic genes would have multiple effects on different traits, rather than just affecting tail length.

If a Pure-Breeding Long-Tail Cat (LL) Is Crossed with a Pure-Breeding