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Dairy
Draft
Artificial selection in plants
Wheat
Tall wheat plants have a high yield, but are
easily damaged in wind and rain
Dwarf wheat plants have a low yield, but
are robust against nasty weather
Q: What do you think happened when the
two types were cross-bred?
A: A dwarf wheat with high yield that was
robust!
Other types were produced, but they were
discarded
How would you?
Discuss how you would breed for:
- Increased number of
offspring in sheep
In summary
Selective breeding = Artificial selection
Has been used for animals and plants
The method:
The desired characteristics are identified
They are bred together
Only the offspring exhibiting the desired
characteristics are bred
This is repeated over several generations until
the desired trait is fully developed
In summary
Problems:
Traits are chosen to benefit humans, not
the animal
Physical problems often occur in domestic
animals eg. Inflammation of the udder
(mastisis) in cows due to increased milk
production