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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 .
Kettlewell's experiments have been vindicated by elaborate research, [25] and the genetic details of the evolutionary process established. [26] [27] [28] Michael Majerus carried out extensive experiments, examining moths in the wild, to re-examine the findings of Kettlewell's experiments in the light of subsequent questions. His work, published ...
The Peppered Moth: Decline of a Darwinian Disciple. This is the transcript of Michael Majerus' lecture delivered to the British Humanist Association on Darwin Day 2004. The Peppered Moth: The Proof of Darwinian Evolution. This is the transcript of Majerus' lecture given at the European Society for Evolutionary Biology meeting on 23 August 2007.
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'.
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 ...
Industrial melanism is an evolutionary effect in insects such as the peppered moth, Biston betularia in areas subject to industrial pollution. Darker pigmented individuals are favored by natural selection, apparently because they are better camouflaged against polluted backgrounds. When pollution was later reduced, lighter forms regained the ...
The book contains a very useful summary of Majerus' work on melanism in ladybirds and a review of the peppered moth story, including observations on moth behavior which sparked controversy. It may be criticised for being unevenly edited so as not to suit any one audience in its entirety.