Name:______Date:______Period: _____
The Genetics of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
The stable master in charge of Santa’s reindeer at the North Pole is taking a genetics course at the University of the North Pole. He can get extra credit if he can figure out the phenotypes and genotypes of the reindeer.
After some research he found out that in reindeer, the ability to fly is dominant over flightlessness, and that having a red nose is a recessive characteristic. As you may remember, one of the reindeer, Rudolph, can fly and also has a red nose.
Rudolph’s mother is red-nosed and flightless. Rudolph’s father is also red-nosed, and every year at the Reindeer Hall of Fame Annual Banquet, he boasts that everyone in his family has always been able to fly, and that it is impossible for any of his offspring to be flightless.
The stable master can accept your help with his assignment by completing Punnett squares, if necessary, for each trait, and answering the questions below.
Use B as the symbol that indicates black nose is dominant, a b for red nose.
Use F for the dominant ability to fly, and f for inability to fly.
1. What is Rudolph’s phenotype? ______
2. What is Rudolph’s genotype? ______
3. What is the phenotype of Rudolph’s mother? ______
4. What is the genotype of Rudolph’s mother? ______
5. What is the phenotype of Rudolph’s father? ______
6. What is the genotype of Rudolph’s father? ______
7. If Rudolph mates with his favorite reindeer, Rhonda (who can’t fly, and has a typical black nose, although her mother has a red nose), can any of their children be like Rudolph’s mother? Show your answer using a Punnett Square and written descriptions of the genotypes and phenotypes of both parents and their possible offspring
Assignment adapted fromhttp://hometown.aol.com/ksmith9526/RudolphGenetics.htm