Question

Genetic maternal effects are often found in mammals. Research, for example, indicates the maternal genotype influences the body size in mice. Why might these types of genetic effects be more common in mammals than in other organisms as fish, amphibians, reptiles?

Answer 1

Maternal effects illustrate that the genotype of the mother parent determines the phenotypic features of ther offsprings. As it has been mentioned in the question that maternal genotype influences the body size in mice. It has been seen in case of cytoplasmic inheritance that takes place in mammals. The mother egg , having dominant gene for growth, fuse with the sperm of father havin recessive gene. All the mice progeny have larger size. Because there is a special protein present in the cytoplasm of mother egg that regulates the growth.