Pedigree chart

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A genetics pedigree chart following an X-linked recessive trait.

A pedigree chart is a chart that shows all of the known phenotypes for an organism and its ancestors^[1][2][3], most commonly humans, show dogs, and race horses. The word pedigree is a corruption of the French "pied de grue" or crane's foot, because the typical lines and split lines (each split leading to different offspring of the one parent line) resemble the thin leg and foot of a crane.

In human genealogy

In the United States, the term "pedigree chart" can refer to a chart showing all of the direct ancestors of a given individual (if known). In addition to the names of the individuals, the chart often includes each person's birth date and place, death date and place, and each couple's marriage date and place. It is also common for persons on the chart to be numbered according to the Ahnentafel numbering system.^[4]

In England and Wales pedigrees are officially recorded in the College of Arms, which has records going back to the Middle Ages, including pedigrees collected during roving inquiries by its heralds during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The purpose of these heraldic visitations was to register and regulate the use of coats of arms. Those who claimed the right to bear arms had to provide proof either of a grant of arms to them by the College, or of descent from an ancestor entitled to arms. It was for this reason that pedigrees were recorded by the visitations. Pedigrees continue to be registered at the College of Arms and kept up to date on a voluntary basis but they are not accessible to the general public without payment of a fee.

More visible, therefore, are the pedigrees recorded in published works, such as Burke's Peerage and Burke's Landed Gentry in the United Kingdom and, in continental Europe by the Almanach de Gotha. Due to space considerations, however, these publications typically use a narrative pedigree, whereby relationships are indicated by numbers (one for each child, a different format for each generation) and by indentations (each generation being indented further than its predecessor). This format is very flexible, and allows for a great deal of information to be included, but it lacks the clarity of the traditional chart pedigree.

In animal husbandry

In the practice of selective breeding of animals, particularly in animal fancy and livestock, including horses, pedigree charts are used to track the ancestry of animals and assist in the planning of suitable breeding programs to enhance desirable traits. Breed registries are formed and are dedicated to the accurate tracking of pedigrees and maintaining accurate records of birth, death and identifying characteristics of each registered animal.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pedigree charts

• Ahnentafel
• Cousin chart
• Family tree
• Genealogical numbering systems
• Genogram
• Inbreeding
• Linebreeding
• Crossbreeding
• Selective breeding
• Foundation bloodstock

References