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Heredity of phenotypic traits: a father and son with prominent ears and crowns. DNA structure. Bases are in the centre, surrounded by phosphate–sugar chains in a double helix. In humans, eye color is an example of an inherited characteristic: an individual might inherit the "brown-eye trait" from one of the parents. [1]
It is this genetic variation that underlies differences in phenotype. An example is the ABO blood type antigens in humans, where three alleles govern the phenotype. [100] Some traits are governed by only a single gene, but most traits are influenced by the interactions of many genes.
The mechanisms of genetic and ecological inheritance are also different; whereas genetic inheritance depends on reproduction (e.g., sexual and asexual) where genes are transmitted in one direction from parent to offspring in the same species, the modified environment and its selective pressures caused by ecological inheritance can be handed ...
In humans, for example, eye colour is an inherited characteristic and an individual might inherit the "brown-eye trait" from one of their parents. [21] Inherited traits are controlled by genes and the complete set of genes within an organism's genome (genetic material) is called its genotype. [22]
These characteristics become increasingly well developed in successive generations. Artificial selection was successful long before science discovered the genetic basis. Examples of artificial selection include dog breeding, genetically modified food, flower breeding, and the cultivation of foods such as wild cabbage, [168] and others ...
Richard Dawkins described a phenotype that included all effects that a gene has on its surroundings, including other organisms, as an extended phenotype, arguing that "An animal's behavior tends to maximize the survival of the genes 'for' that behavior, whether or not those genes happen to be in the body of the particular animal performing it."
The adaptive traits may be structural, behavioural or physiological. Structural adaptations are physical features of an organism, such as shape, body covering, armament, and internal organization. Behavioural adaptations are inherited systems of behaviour, whether inherited in detail as instincts, or as a neuropsychological capacity for learning.
Therefore, species-specific genetic traits must be inherited, allowing individuals to be successful in their designated environments. There are many environmental examples of sexual selection as an adaptive behavior; one popular example is sexual dimorphism.