A researcher collects a large number of birds and measures

Last updated: 7/8/2022

A researcher collects a large number of birds and measures the sizes of their beaks. This species is known to be monogamous so it is possible to determine which two birds are the parents of all the offspring in the nest. After the offspring hatch and reach their adult sizes, the researcher collects beak size measurements for the offspring. If the plot of offspring and midparent mean in beak size shows a positive correlation, what can you say about the heritability of beak size in these birds? a. The beak size appears to not be heritable at all. b. Beak size is highly heritable. c. Natural selection cannot act on beak size. d. Parents with larger beak sizes tend to have offspring who also have large beak sizes.