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Kettlewell's experiment was a biological experiment in the mid-1950s to study the evolutionary mechanism of industrial melanism in the peppered moth (Biston betularia). [ 1 ] [ 2 ] It was executed by Bernard Kettlewell , working as a research fellow in the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford .
During his experiment, he noted the natural resting positions of peppered moths. Of the 135 moths examined, over half were on tree branches, mostly on the lower half of the branch; 37% were on tree trunks, mostly on the north side; and only 12.6% were resting on or under twigs.
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.
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 experiments with the peppered moths, as described in this book, are arguably the most dramatic and best known case of adaptive evolution.For many people at that time, this was the first evidence that they could see evolution taking place in the world around them, and could see how fast evolution can go since Darwin came up with the hypothesis (Kettlewell, 1959).
[36] [37] Majerus's works clearly vindicated the experiments on peppered moth evolution, and the paper concluded that: The new data, coupled with the weight of previously existing data convincingly show that 'industrial melanism in the peppered moth is still one of the clearest and most easily understood examples of Darwinian evolution in action'.
During an experiment in Cambridge over the seven years 2001–2007 Majerus noted the natural resting positions of peppered moths, and of the 135 moths examined over half were on tree branches, mostly on the lower half of the branch, 37% were on tree trunks, mostly on the north side, and only 12.6% were resting on or under twigs.
He has a particular research interest in the peppered moth, [1] [2] and published a book, Observing Evolution: Peppered Moths and the Discovery of Parallel Melanism [3] in 2021. Grant has a B.S. in Biology from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania in 1964, an M.S. in Genetics from North Carolina State University , Raleigh in 1966 and a Ph.D ...