Question

in rats, offspring of larger mothers tend to be larger than offspring of smaller mothers, even when fed the same diet and raised apart from their mothers. when fed higher calorie diets, rats tend to be larger than rats fed lower calorie diets, even when they are offspring of the same mother. these two experimental results suggest that rat body size is influenced by which factors?
correct answer(s)
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alleles
pleiotropy
epistasis
the environment
drag appropriate answer(s) here
incorrect answer(s)

Explanation:

• Alleles: Offspring of larger mothers (genetically different as they have different alleles related to size) are larger even when raised apart. This shows genetic (allele - related) influence.
• The environment: Rats fed higher - calorie diets (environmental factor of diet) are larger, even if they are from the same mother (same genetic background).

Epistasis (interaction of non - allelic genes) and pleiotropy (a single gene having multiple effects) are not indicated by the given data. The data mainly focuses on genetic (alleles) and environmental (diet) factors.

Answer:

alleles, the environment