Characteristics that vary on a continuum among people, such as height, weight, intelligence, and personality, are due to
A) dominant-recessive relationships.
B) polygenic inheritance.
C) incomplete dominance.
D) genomic imprinting.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Polygenic inheritance occurs when a trait is controlled by multiple genes, each contributing to the variation of the trait. Characteristics that vary on a continuum, such as height, weight, intelligence, and personality, are examples of traits that are controlled by multiple genes, and thus are the result of polygenic inheritance. Dominant-recessive relationships and incomplete dominance refer to the expression of a single gene, not multiple genes. Genomic imprinting refers to the differential expression of a gene depending on whether it was inherited from the mother or the father, but is not related to the continuum variation of characteristics.

Characteristics That Vary on a Continuum Among People, Such as Height