Human Females and Influence on the Phenotype of Their Offspring, Essay Example

Provide three independent reasons why human females have the greatest influence on the phenotype of their offspring

The first reason is that females more energy into producing offspring, according to the Bateman’s principle. A female’s ability to reproduce is dependent on how many eggs she produces, rather than how many males she mates with. This results in sexual selection, in which she is picky about which males she mates with.

Another reason that females have a greater influence on phenotype is that they are responsible for prenatal care. The female carries the child until birth. They are responsible for what the offspring are exposed to within the womb. This can lead to differences based on exposure.

Another reason that females have a greater influence on phenotype is that when a mother is pregnant, the male set of genes can be seen as a foreign intrusion within the body that the body tries to fight off like an infection. The set of genes from the mother is trying to produce a successful pregnancy which could be why the mother has greater influence.