DRAGON GENETICS

Name________________________Period______

Instructions: Refer to the key below, and answer the

following questions.

DRAGON KEY

Remember: Capital letters represent dominant alleles.

Lowercase letters represent recessive alleles.

NECK LENGTH TOES TAIL LENGTH

N= LONG NECK T= THREE TOES L= LONG TAIL

n= short neck t= four toes l= short tail

HORN COLOR OF SPIKES WING COLOR

H= HORN PRESENT B= BLACK TAIL SPIKES R= RED WINGS

h= horn absent b= red tail spikes r= yellow wings

BODY COLOR EYE COLOR BELLY COLOR

G= GREEN BODY E= RED EYE Y= YELLOW BELLY

g= grey body e= white eye y= white belly

BODY SHAPE BREATHES FIRE FRECKLES

D= DRAGON-LIKE BODY F= BREATHES FIRE K= FRECKLES

d= snake-like body f= doesn’t breathe fire k= no freckles

1. What letters are used to represent wing color?

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2. What letters are used to represent neck length?

__________________________________________

3. The letter “Y” is used as a symbol to represent what trait?

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4. The letter “e” is used to represent what trait?

__________________________________________
5. List six dominant traits shown in the key.
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6. List six recessive traits shown in the key.

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Instructions: Using the key from the other side as a reference, fill in the missing symbols
for alleles (genotypes) or descriptions (phenotypes) in the table below. The first two rows are
done for you. Remember, dominant traits appear when either one or two copies of the dominant
allele are present. For example, “NN” and “Nn” both cause the dragon’s neck to be long. Only in
the case of “nn” would the dragon’s neck be short because no dominant allele for a long neck is
present.

TRAIT SYMBOLS FOR ALLELES APPEARANCE

Neck size NN or Nn Long neck

Neck size nn Short neck

Body shape Snake-like body

Eye color EE

Horn? (Present or absent) hh

Fire breathing? ______ or _____ Breathes fire

Belly color YY or Yy

Color of spikes Red

Tail length _____ or _____ Long

Instructions: Create a Punnett square for the following crosses.

1. A purebred dragon with three toes is crossed with a hybrid dragon

with three toes.

Probability of offspring:

_____% 3 toes

_____% 4 toes

2. A hybrid dragon with a horn is crossed with a purebred dragon

without a horn.

Probability of offspring:

_____% horn present

_____% horn absent

Instructions: Flip a coin 2 times for each of the following traits. Heads represents the dominant
allele and tails represent the recessive allele. Be sure to use the same letters in the key. Record
your results in the chart below.

TRAIT FLIP 1 FLIP 2 GENOTYPE PHENOTYPE

Neck length
Horns
Body Color
Body shape
Toes
Color of spikes
Eye color
Breathes fire
Tail length
Wing color
Belly color
Freckles
Instructions: Use the chart above and the key on the first page to create and color a dragon. Be
sure to use the correct genotypes and phenotypes.