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In females, a situation known as "hemizygous" exists. This is when there is nothing paired against the allele on the Z chromosome. It is unpaired because the other chromosome is the W and does not have that locus. As a result, whichever allele is present in a female will be expressed, even if it acts recessive in males. "Lack of function" traits (similar to amelanism) are generally going to be recessive in males, but will not be recessive in females. "Additional function" traits, which would often act like a typical dominant or codominant trait in males, will act somewhat like a dominant trait in females. However, it's possible in these cases that the males (since they have two Z chromosomes) can receive a "double dose" of the allele where the females cannot. Because of that "double dose," traits may show more extreme expression in males than females. It's possible that this is the situation causing the pinkish colors on some anerythristic males, and/or the differences between male and female hypo lavenders. In addition to the actual expression of the traits, the inheritance patterns will not be the same as usual. The following rules apply to sex-linked traits: 1- The female passes her W chromosome to all of her daughters. 2- The female passes her Z chromosome to all of her sons. 3- If a female is expressing a Z-based trait, it was inherited from her father. (Remember, she got the W chromosome from her mother.) 4- Females cannot pass any Z-based traits to any of their daughters. 5- Males can pass a Z-based trait on to their daughters or their sons. These rules lead to some interesting consequences involving the way these traits will be distributed in hatchlings, depending on which parent(s) are carrying which alleles. [Home] [Digital Editions] [CMG Genetics Tutorial] [Serpwidgets Genetics] [Links] [Contact] Cornsnake Morph Guide is a registered trademark of Charles Pritzel All content on this site is copyright © 2004-2012, Charles Pritzel |