Describe6 marksChallenge
A botanist is studying two populations of a wild plant species. In both populations, flower colour is either red or white, with no intermediate shades. However, leaf length shows a wide range of values from 2 cm to 12 cm, with many intermediate measurements. The botanist measures leaf length from 30 plants in each population and calculates the mean leaf length for each.
Describe the differences between discontinuous and continuous variation, using the flower colour and leaf length examples. Explain the genetic basis of each type of variation. Also describe how a t-test could be used to compare the mean leaf lengths of the two populations.