So this is actually two questions, but both related to breeding. First- My favorite villager has a "skunk stripe" and high healing ability. Will her children tend to look like her?

Second- Is ummm... inbreeding detrimental to the villagers? I'm guessing not at the lower levels (I hope not, as I only started out with one man), but what about at the higher levels? (Imagine- a village full of people with skunk stripes!)

From what I have seen, physical characteristics are not passed on frm teh parents, I can't swear to this though. Abilities though are passed on, but I still haven't worked out if it is from the more skilled parent, or a lucky dip of one of their abilities.

I have not noticed any problems due to inbreeding either, but then, I have been very bad at keeping track of who the parents of my kids have been

Abilities are passed on from the parents. I usually have my doctor or my scientists impregnate the female farmers. I almost always get kids who start off with one of those three abilities.

I never let my builders breed and I never have kids that start off with that ability.

Cool. I wondered why some of my todlers already had some experience in different fields.

I have never kept track on who breeds with who, but the only ability my kids have ever been born with is researching. Don't know if that's coincidence or not!

I have had them born with reasearching and farming.

I think it only matters what the mother has. I don't think the father has any bearing. At least it never has with me. Its always been the mothers trait and I've come to count on it to breed them.

I've had little bundles of joy with research, farming, and healing as their initial skills right off the bat. Most of my villagers have a little skill in all the areas and specialize in one or two things - so I have no idea how the toddlers got it but they did

Like Flash said, the skills are passed on by the parents...

I've noticed that male scientists can never breed.

Wait, wait, I'm sorry, that's a real-life observation. Nevermind.

I found I bred a male and femal master scientists and when it came to the baby being born it was atleast a quarter of research already done.