In Dexter and Kerry cattle, animals may be polled (hornless) or horned. The Dexter animals have short legs, whereas the Kerry animals have long legs. When many offspring were obtained from matings between polled Kerrys and horned Dexters, half were found to be polled Dexters and half polled Kerrys. When these two types of \(\mathrm{F}_{1}\) cattle were mated to one another, the following \(\mathrm{F}_{2}\) data were obtained: \(3 / 8\) polled Dexters \(3 / 8\) polled Kerrys \(1 / 8\) horned Dexters \(1 / 8\) horned Kerrys A geneticist was puzzled by these data and interviewed farmers who had bred these cattle for decades. She learned thatKerrys were true breeding. Dexters, on the other hand, were not true breeding and never produced as many offspring as Kerrys. Provide a genetic explanation for these observations.

Based on the given information, the inheritance pattern of traits in cattle can be analyzed as follows: 1. The polled trait (hornless) is dominant over the horned trait. 2. The short legs (Dexter) trait is recessive, while the long legs (Kerry) trait is dominant. 3. When polled Kerrys (PP KK) are mated with horned Dexters (pp DD), the F1 generation consists of 50% polled Dexters (PP DK) and 50% polled Kerrys (PP KD). 4. In the F2 generation, we observe a ratio of 3/8 polled Dexters (PP DD), 3/8 polled Kerrys (PP KK), 1/8 horned Dexters (Pp DD), and 1/8 horned Kerrys (Pp KK). This inheritance pattern explains why Kerrys are true breeding but polled Dexters are not. The presence of the heterozygous genotype (Pp DD) in the F2 generation results in 12.5% of offspring being horned Dexters, causing the breed to not produce as many polled offspring as Kerrys.