To determine the likelihood of the offspring having long or short tails, we'll use the principles of Mendelian genetics, specifically focusing on the inheritance of dominant and recessive traits.
1. Define the genotypes:
- Let's use "L" to represent the allele for a long tail (dominant).
- Let's use "l" to represent the allele for a short tail (recessive).
2. Identify the parents’ genotypes:
- The mother cat is heterozygous for the tail length trait, meaning her genotype is "Ll".
- The father cat is homozygous dominant for the long tail trait, meaning his genotype is "LL".
3. Create a Punnett square:
- A Punnett square helps us predict the probability of the offspring's genotypes based on the parents' genotypes.
| | L (Father) | L (Father) |
|-------|-----|-----|
| L (Mother) | LL | LL |
| l (Mother) | Ll | Ll |
4. Analyze the Punnett square:
- Each cell within the Punnett square represents a possible genotype for the offspring.
- We get four possible genotype combinations: LL, LL, Ll, and Ll.
5. Calculate the probabilities:
- There are two "LL" combinations and two "Ll" combinations.
- None of the combinations result in the "ll" genotype, which would be necessary for the offspring to have a short tail.
6. Phenotype of the offspring:
- The "LL" genotype and the "Ll" genotype both result in a long tail (since L is dominant over l).
- Therefore, all the offspring will have the long tail phenotype.
7. Conclusion:
- All of their offspring will have long tails.
Thus, the correct answer is: "All will have long tails."
