Question

______________ was demonstrated in the darkening of the population of the peppered moth in Europe over a relatively short period of time.

a.Natural selection
b.Natural integration
c.Kettlewell adaptation
d.Industrial modification

Answer 1

The answer is actually B) Natural Selection. Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. Since the peppered moth had to adapt or mutate in order to survive or have the best chances of survival. That plus I just answered the question and the answer was b.

Answer 2

Hello!

The answer is D. Industrial Modification (also called Industrial melanism).

The history of the peppered moth is the following: The population of dark-colored peppered moths increased during the Industrial Revolution and decreased after it. Scientist studied this phenomenon and concluded that the dark color was an effective camouflage in the contaminated environment of the Industrial Revolution, but in a clean environment, birds can hunt dark peppered moths more easily and thus their population decreased after the Industrial Revolution when the environment was cleaner.

This is a classic example of how mutations are shaped by the environment, but it can't be called Natural Selection because the changes were produced by the Industrial Revolution and not by natural causes.