Genetic memory

Just watched an episode of Stargate where the bad guys have genetic memory and are born with all the knowledge of those that lived in their bloodline before them.   I thought that must save on schooling costs.   Later I read this article about tadpoles on the BBC site which made me think, How did it know that?   Is this actually what genetic memory really is?

Whenever you hear the words genetic memory is usually refers to the memories from the parents life being passed on to the children.  Giving them knowledge of experience that they themselves have never learnt or experienced.   So far to the best of our knowledge we don’t know of any species that actually has the ability to pass on genetic memories like this.

All the species we know only pass on physical characteristics such as hair colour, eye colour etc. via DNA.  The parent’s DNA having a bearing on the child’s DNA and how it looks and thus we pass on our genes.

But is that really all we pass on?

Its things like this article though that make me wonder about genetic memory.  Why is it that tadpoles react to the smell of salamanders?  It can’t be education because there is no prior experience.   Each species reacts differently to different smells and sounds.   Each species responds in its own way to the stimuli but every example of a species responds in exactly the same way to the same stimuli.   Something must be telling them what to do and what not to do.    Evolution says what is safe and what is not.   And at such a young age it must be something passed on from their parents.  How is it passed on if not via genetic memory?

What tells some new borns to suckle when they are hungry and others to kill and eat?   What tells some new borns, usually prey, to hide and go silent when something unexpected happens whilst predators face it head on and go out to investigate?    Parasites feed on hosts till they are dead yet some creatures make a run from their own parents who would eat them if they could.   How does every one know what is the right thing to do for them.

It must be something either in the DNA or in something similar that is passed on from parent to offspring.    Something that doesn’t hold that much data, relatively speaking, but contains enough genetic memory to tell them the basics, hide or flight, kill or not, look cute and gurgle or be a mean fighting machine.

I’m of the opinion that all species pass on genetic memories to their young.   I actually wonder if any of them actually pass on real memories and experience beyond the basic responses who have seen.   Could this explain the occasional child prodigy?