How do pedigrees help us understand how traits are passed down?

Answer 1

Pedigrees help us understand how traits are passed because they are specfically bred to have a certain trait(s). This is usu. done by breeding two animals that look alike and breding their offspring to another look-alike animal/creature. Note that some pedigrees are "ruined" due to inbreeding (incest) resulting in occasional deformities or flaws.

Example

A purebred german shepherd should have two black moles on his/her cheeks together. If you bred two similar dogs you should have similar puppies. If you take another dog such as a traditional black and white border collie and bred it to a german shepherd, you can see how the puppies appear and what the differences are.

SOme traits are more desirable than others and offspring will be bred with another animal with desired traits. If this fails, normally the resulted offspring will be bred to the same creature or one similar to try and get the result. This is a result of what genes are reccesvie and which are dominate. The mroe you bred for something specific the more likely a gene is to become dominate.

Answer 2

Pedigrees show how traits or diseases are passed down through generations in a family. By analyzing patterns of inheritance, we can determine whether a trait is dominant or recessive, and predict the likelihood of offspring inheriting a particular trait. This information is valuable for genetic counseling and understanding the genetic basis of traits in a population.

Answer 3

A dog's pedigree would tell you about the traits it expresses by that the traits it does tells you about it, and it's offspring might inherit it's parent, and by that you can know.