What term describes a cross involving two traits?

A dihybrid cross refers specifically to an experiment or genetic crossing that examines the inheritance of two traits simultaneously. This type of genetic cross involves organisms that are heterozygous for two different genes. It allows for the study of how two different traits assort independently according to Mendel's second law, the Law of Independent Assortment.

In a dihybrid cross, you would analyze the phenotypic ratio of the offspring resulting from parents that differ in two characteristics. For instance, if a plant exhibits two traits, such as flower color and seed shape, the dihybrid cross would be used to determine the possible genetic combinations and ratios of these traits in the offspring.

This terminology is distinct from monohybrid crosses, which involve only one trait, and other types of crosses like test crosses or back crosses, which do not focus on assessing two different traits at the same time. Hence, when discussing crosses that involve two traits, the correct term is indeed dihybrid cross.