Heritability is measured as:
A)the slope of the line that relates the average phenotype of parents to the average phenotype of their offspring.
B)the slope of the line that relates the average phenotype of parents to the average environment in which they live.
C)the slope of the line that relates individual phenotype to environmental conditions.
D)how skewed the distribution of offspring phenotypes is.
E)the difference between the norms of reaction of two phenotypes across the same range of environmental conditions.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Heritability is a measure of the extent to which differences among individuals are due to genetic factors. It is typically determined by comparing the phenotypic variation among individuals within a population to the genetic variation observed among those individuals. The slope of the line that relates the average phenotype of parents to the average phenotype of their offspring (also known as the parent-offspring regression) is a commonly used method for estimating heritability. This approach quantifies the degree to which offspring resemble their parents in terms of phenotype, which is expected to be strongly influenced by genetic factors if heritability is high. Thus, heritability can be measured using the slope of the parent-offspring regression line.

Heritability Is Measured As