The offspring cross between parents with different traits are called what?

• A. Hybrids
• B. Clones
• C. Phenotypes
• D. Genotypes

Answer: (A)

Hybrids are offspring produced when two parents with different traits are crossed. This term captures the idea of mixing genetic material from two distinct parental lines, yielding offspring that carry a combination of alleles from both sides. In many cases, the hybrid shows the dominant trait from one parent or a mix of traits, depending on how the alleles interact. This is different from clones, which are produced asexually and are genetically identical to the parent. Phenotypes are what you can observe about the organism, while genotypes describe the actual genetic makeup. So crossing two parents with differing traits yields hybrids because it brings together different allele combinations into the offspring. For example, crossing a pure-breeding tall plant with a pure-breeding short plant produces a hybrid in the first generation.