The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
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Continuous variation is the situation encountered where for a given phenotype all values between the two extremes are possible. Examples of this include such things as height and weight. Continuous variation within organisms does not display easily observable states, such as the color of eyes or hair, there is a steady gradation normally observed between the possible extremes.
Continuous variation is sometimes known as quantitative variation. It is common for the characteristic to have a mean value around which the population varies. Continuous variation is most common amongst those characteristics which are strongly affected by environmental factors and also amongst those characteristics which are under the control of many genes acting together. The larger the number of controlling genes the greater is the spread around the mean value.
Continuous variation is found within large populations. In smaller, more isolated communities it can be the case that many of the genes controlling a given character are represented only by one allele per gene (due to inbreeding and genetic drift). This gives the appearance of a characterisitc which is under the control of far fewer genes than is the actual case.