In cocker spaniels, black coat color (B) is dominant over red (b) , and solid color (S) is dominant over spotted (s) . If a solid red male was crossed with a solid black female to produce a spotted red puppy, the genotypes of the parents (with male genotype first) would be ____.

A) Bb Ss × Bb Ss
B) bb Ss × Bb Ss
C) bb ss × Bb Ss
D) bb Ss × Bb ss
E) Bb ss × Bb ss

The solid red male must be homozygous recessive for red (bb) since red is recessive, and must carry at least one dominant allele for solid color (Ss) to express the solid phenotype. The solid black female must carry at least one dominant allele for black (B) and at least one dominant allele for solid (S), but since they produced a spotted red puppy, both must carry the recessive allele for spotted (s) and the female must also carry the recessive allele for red (b) to pass these traits onto their offspring. Therefore, the correct genotypes are bb Ss × Bb Ss.