Quirks and Quarks

What's with all those red-bearded hockey players?

You ask the questions. We find the answers.
San Jose Sharks' Joe Thornton watches the play during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Vancouver Canucks. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)

Dr. Meaghan Jones, a post-doctoral fellow from The University of British Columbia explains that a genetic process known as incomplete dominance accounts for the phenomenon of having dark hair and a red beard.  

The dark hair gene comes from one parent, and the red hair gene from the other.  However, it remains a mystery why the red hair gene manifests itself in beard hair.