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Reading a Pedigree to Infer a Mode of Inheritance

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This procedure reads a family pedigree, a diagram of matings and offspring across generations, to infer whether a trait is autosomal or X-linked, and dominant or recessive.

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A skipped generation rules out simple dominant inheritance, but an even sex split alone does not rule out X-linkage — only tracing which parent transmits the trait to which sex settles that.