discontinuous variation

discontinuous variation

n.

Variation within a population in which few or no phenotypes fall between the extremes.

The American Heritage® Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2007, 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

discontinuous variation

a variation in which different forms of a CHARACTER fall clearly into a particular grouping without overlapping each other, and are often controlled by a small number of major genes. White and red eye colours in fruitflies are an example. See also QUALITATIVE INHERITANCE.

Collins Dictionary of Biology, 3rd ed. © W. G. Hale, V. A. Saunders, J. P. Margham 2005