RE: THE GENE POOL
 

Here Here!

RE: THE GENE POOL
 

davidmil, I agree.

BUT, this question has me intreged(sp?) so Ill ask my Bio teacher on Mon. This has me wonderin. I have thought about it before but....for some reason.....never thought to ask my Bio teacher.
Ill tell ya what he says on Monday:)

RE: THE GENE POOL
 

It is believed that antler size in whitetails is what is known as a polygenic trait. That is it is determined by several genes. I have seen no research that indicates that these genes are all located on the Y chromosome of the male deer. Combine this with that fact that whitetail breeders have "prize" does and their non empirical evidence that antler size traits can be carried by does and I think you have your answer. As yet the whiteail genome has not yet been mapped, but owing to the economic impact of whitetail farming, and herd management, and I am sure that it won't be long in coming, and we will know for sure. The Kerr study in Texas did find a correlation between mature antler size in spike and fork horn yearlings that suggests that yearlings with forks are more likely to develop "trophy" racks at maturity than spikes are. Does this mean we should kill more spikes that forks as yearlings? The controversy over that still rages.
The most exhaustive study to date of Red Deer in fact did not even study the female part of the equation. Red Deer Study. To further complicate the picture, as we know, antler size in deer in part determines reproductive success, making the determination even more complex. Deer with large antlers are more likely to reproduce than those with smaller ones skewing the numbers once again.