Question

this passage describes the coat pattern trait in cheetahs:
a cheetah with a spotted coat has many small black spots on its body. a cheetah with a king coat has large black splotches on its body and stripes on its back. king cheetahs are rarely seen in the wild. they were once thought to be a different species.
in a group of cheetahs, some individuals have a spotted coat and others have a king coat. in this group, the gene for the coat pattern trait has two alleles. the allele for a king coat (a) is recessive to the allele for a spotted coat (a).
the punnett square below shows a cross between two cheetahs. consider the phenotypes of the offspring shown. select one box that represents offspring with a spotted coat.
a a
a aa aa
a aa aa

Explanation:

Step1: Recall Dominant/Recessive Traits

The allele for spotted coat (\(A\)) is dominant over king coat (\(a\)). So, any genotype with at least one \(A\) (AA or Aa) shows the spotted phenotype.

Step2: Analyze Punnett Square Genotypes

The Punnett square has genotypes: \(AA\), \(Aa\), \(AA\), \(Aa\). All these have at least one \(A\), so all represent spotted - coated offspring. For example, the box with \(AA\) (top - left), \(Aa\) (top - right), \(AA\) (bottom - left), or \(Aa\) (bottom - right) can be chosen. Let's pick the \(AA\) (top - left) box as one example.

Answer:

The box with \(AA\) (top - left), \(Aa\) (top - right), \(AA\) (bottom - left), or \(Aa\) (bottom - right) (e.g., the top - left box with \(AA\))