peppered moth

This time at the University of Exeter: Scientists have revisited – and confirmed – one of the most famous textbook examples of evolution in action. They showed that differences in the survival of pale and dark forms of the peppered moth (Biston betularia) are explained by how well camouflaged the moths are to birds in clean and polluted woodland. “Industrial melanism” – the prevalence of darker varieties of animals in polluted areas – and the peppered moth provided a crucial early example supporting Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection, and has been a battleground between evolutionary biologists and creationists for decades. The battle was over the claim that differing prevalence of the light and dark varieties is evidence of Read More ›