Question

Mating of two varieties of a cattle breed like Red Dane which have no common ancestors on either side of their pedigree up to 4-6 generations is an example for
a) Inbreeding
b) Crossbreeding
c) Outcrossing
d) Interspecific hybridization

Answer 1

Breeding two different varieties of animals whether they are related to each other or not helps in improving the quality of the progeny. It is done either to increase the yield of the milk production in the cattle or is done to increase the power of the bull for ploughing of the fields.

Complete answer:
Mating two varieties of cattle breed like Red Dane which have no common ancestors on either side of their pedigree up to 4-6 generations is an example for outcrossing. Outcrossing is the breeding method in which the varieties having no common ancestors are made to mate with each other. Outcrossing is the effective way of hybridization in which the below-average varieties are used to produce a variety that can increase the production of the milk and also help in the increase of the growth rate of the cattle. Outcrossing is also used to cure inbreeding depression which occurs due to continuous inbreeding of the same variety of cattle.

Additional information:
-Inbreeding is the way of breeding animals that are closely related to each other by their ancestors. Continuous inbreeding in a population can lead to inbreeding depression in which the biological fitness of the population is reduced.
-Crossbreeding is done with the aim to produce a hybrid variety of the organism which can have both the traits of the parents. It leads to the formation of the offspring which is an improved variety as compared to the parents.
-Inter-specific hybridization is the process of inbreeding done between the individuals of different species. The offspring produced are sterile and cannot mate.

So, the answer is ‘outcrossing’.

Note: Outcrossing is very useful in order to increase the yield of milk produced by cows. It is also helpful in curing inbreeding depression which is caused due to accumulation of the less fitted genes.