You are researching a population of brittle stars that varies inthe number of legs that they produce. You survey the localpopulation, and come up with the numbers below. Assume that thephenotypes you encounter represent the full range of possiblephenotypes in this population.
- Calculate the phenotypic variance in this trait.
- Do the traits in this population appear to be normallydistributed? Give an explanation of why this pattern might beobserved.
Through a series of breeding experiments, you calculate that h2for this population is 0.3. If no dominant alleles contribute tothis trait, and there are no epistatic interactions involving thegene loci that control this trait, what is VE for thispopulation?
#of legs: # of individuals:
5 ; 420
6 ; 189
7 ; 72
8 ; 5
9 ; 3
