A female's offspring are influenced by her previous mates, even after she has separated from them and mated with new partners , the genetic contribution of prior males affects later offspring.
Telegony was a genuine belief in 19th-century biology and was taken seriously by Darwin and others, but it has no basis in Mendelian genetics. Modern genetics proves that offspring inherit DNA only from their biological parents at conception. While epigenetics can reveal environmental influences on gene expression, there is no mechanism by which genetic material from previous mates influences subsequent offspring. Contemporary DNA analysis has definitively disproven this hypothesis.
Reception
Sources
- Telegony: A Failed Theory of Heredity REFERENCE
- Evolution of Ideas About Heredity PRIMARY