Inheritance of Characteristics in Domestic Fowl — John Shaqi
Inheritance of Characteristics in Domestic FowlDavenport, Charles Benedict
Science
Inheritance of Characteristics in Domestic Fowl
Davenport, Charles Benedict
Heredity; Poultry
As already stated, the proportions of the median and the lateral
elements in the Y comb are very variable; the median element may,
indeed, constitute anywhere from 100 per cent to 0 per cent of the
entire comb. Even full brothers and sisters show this variability.
Thus the offspring of No. 13 ♀ Single-comb Minorca and No.
3 ♂ Polish have the median element of the Y comb ranging
from 0 per cent to 70 per cent of the whole comb. Notwithstanding
this variability of the median element in any family there is a
difference in the average and the range of variability in families
where different races are employed. Thus the offspring of two Polish
× Minorca crosses show an _average_ of 46 per cent of the median
element in the comb; the Houdan × Minorca cross gives combs with 60
per cent of the median element; and in the combs of the offspring of
two Houdan × White Leghorn crosses there is, on the average, 71 per
cent of the median element. The Houdan × Dark Brahma (pea comb) gives
combs with an average of 87 per cent median element and the Polish
× Rose-comb Minorca cross gives 89 per cent median. The rose-combed
hens used in this last cross were heterozygous, having single comb
recessive; consequently they produced also chicks with typical Y
combs. Such had, on the average, only 59 per cent of the median
element and were thus in striking contrast with the slightly split
rose combs. In the case of the partially split rose combs the median
element ranged from 60 per cent to 100 per cent of the whole length
of the comb; but in the split single combs the range is from 0 to
100 per cent. Thus, in the two cases, the proportion of the median
element and the range of its variability differ greatly.
Also, in generations subsequent to the first, the Y comb exhibits
this same variability. We have already seen that the progeny of the
Y-combed offspring of any generation may be compared with those
of any other, and so we may mass together the progeny of all hybrid
generations so long as they are derived from the same ancestral pure
races.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account