Final answer:
Traits can skip generations or appear in individuals not exhibiting them due to Mendelian inheritance where dominant alleles can mask recessive ones. Offspring with recessive traits can arise if both parents carry the recessive allele. Environmental factors and multigenic inheritance also influence hereditary traits.
Step-by-step explanation:
We observe traits skip generations or arise from individuals that do not exhibit the trait due to the principles of Mendelian inheritance. According to Mendelian genetics, traits are determined by alleles which can be dominant or recessive. If a trait is caused by a recessive allele, it can be masked by the presence of a dominant allele. This means that two parents who are both carriers of a recessive allele (heterozygous) but do not exhibit the trait themselves can produce offspring who do exhibit the trait if they inherit the recessive allele from both parents (homozygous recessive).
Therefore, the correct option is c) Independent: Mendelian inheritance; Dependent: Genetic traits. This explanation can be tested by crossing individuals with known genotypes and observing the phenotypes of the offspring. Lastly, the knowledge that most hereditary diseases have a multigenic pattern of inheritance, with environmental factors playing a role as well, adds complexity to predicting genetic traits.