English: This is a diagram showing the Green Beard Effect in action. It shows the tendency of odd, out of the norm individuals to prefer other, similarly odd individuals. This is thought to be due to the sexual reproduction mechanism and the random shuffling of genes it produces in progeny. The tendencies then must spring from the belief that mating with similar individuals with presumably similar genes will ensure your genes are passed on to the next generation to be spread further.

I.

1. The Genotype shown by the two individuals here is this society’s standard - as it codes for the accepted phenotype (physical appearance); that is, light blue faces.

2. The two individuals are attracted to each other, since they share mutual characteristics and therefore most likely also share DNA sequences (genes) that code for these outward appearances.

3. The parents’ mutual genes for face color are passed on to their offspring, which facilitates the spreading of their genes to future generations, benefiting both parents.

II.

1. The individual on the right possesses the common, accepted light blue face genotype (RR); however, the one on the left has a rare, generally disliked orange face genotype (rr).

2. The two organisms are repulsed by each other, since their physical characteristics are different and therefore the genes that code for these quirks.

3. No children are had, seeing as both organisms would be faced with uncertainty over whether their progeny (children) would carry their genes to the next generation.

III.

1. Both individuals possess the rare orange face color gene (rr) that is generally found repulsive by most members of society.

2. The two organisms are attracted to one another, even though most others find the characteristic repulsive since they have the same gene for face color (rr).

3. The members pass their mutual gene for orange face color on to their offspring. This is thought to be the reason why two generally repulsive individuals would be mutually attracted to one another. The rare genotype (rr) possessed by both of the members that results in the repulsive quirks causes the odd individuals to want to reproduce together since it will be guaranteed that the rare (rr) genotype will be passed on to the next generation and spread.