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Industrial melanism in the peppered moth was an early test of Charles Darwin's natural selection in action, and it remains a classic example in the teaching of evolution. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] In 1978, Sewall Wright described it as "the clearest case in which a conspicuous evolutionary process has actually been observed."
For example, J.B.S. Haldane estimated in 1924 the rate of evolution by natural selection in the peppered moth in his first series of A Mathematical Theory of Natural and Artificial Selection. He estimated that for the peppered moth having reproductive cycle in a year, it would take 48 generations to produce the dominant (melanic or black) forms ...
The peppered moth (Biston betularia) is a temperate species of night-flying moth. [1] It is mostly found in the northern hemisphere in places like Asia, Europe and North America. Peppered moth evolution is an example of population genetics and natural selection. [2] The caterpillars of the peppered moth not only mimic the form but also the ...
Henry Bernard Davis Kettlewell (24 February 1907 – 11 May 1979) [1] was a British geneticist, lepidopterist and medical doctor, who performed research on the influence of industrial melanism on peppered moth (Biston betularia) coloration, showing why moths are darker in polluted areas.
Peppered moth with dark phenotype that was positively selected for during the Industrial Revolution. Peppered Moth with white phenotype that was negatively selected for during the Industrial Revolution. A significant example of directional selection in populations is the fluctuations of light and dark phenotypes in peppered moths in the 1800s. [16]
Between 1953 and 1956, the geneticist Bernard Kettlewell experimented on peppered moth evolution. He presented results showing that in a polluted urban wood with dark tree trunks, dark moths survived better than pale ones, causing industrial melanism, whereas
Industrial melanism is known from over 70 species of moth that Kettlewell found in England, and many others from Europe and North America. [17] Among these, Apamea crenata (clouded border brindle moth) and Acronicta rumicis (knot grass moth) are always polymorphic, though the melanic forms are more common in cities and (like those of the peppered moth) are declining in frequency as those ...
The balance was reversed by the effect of the Clean Air Act 1956, and the dark moths became rare again, demonstrating the influence of natural selection on peppered moth evolution. [59] A recent study, using image analysis and avian vision models, shows that pale individuals more closely match lichen backgrounds than dark morphs and for the ...