sex-limited trait
A sex-limited trait is one that physically appears in only one sex, even though both sexes carry the genes for it. Both a hen and a rooster inherit the genes for the rooster's showy plumage, yet only the male ever displays it. The genes are present in both; the expression is limited to one.
The mechanism is usually the hormonal and developmental setting of the body rather than the location of the gene. Such genes typically sit on autosomes, so they are inherited equally by both sexes — but they are switched on or off, or read out differently, depending on the body's sex, often through sex hormones.
This is why it is important not to confuse sex-limited with sex-linked. Sex-linked means the gene physically resides on a sex chromosome; sex-limited means an ordinary gene is expressed in only one sex. A female who shows nothing herself can still carry and transmit the genes for a male-limited trait to her sons.
Milk yield is a sex-limited trait: bulls carry and transmit genes that influence how much milk their daughters produce, yet a bull never lactates himself.
Genes carried by both sexes, expressed in only one — the essence of a sex-limited trait.
Distinguish three look-alikes: sex-linked (gene is on a sex chromosome), sex-limited (gene shows in only one sex), and sex-influenced (gene shows in both sexes but acts dominant in one and recessive in the other, like male-pattern baldness).