Final answer:
Moths that evade bat's echolocation have adaptations that increase survival and reproduction, contributing to their fitness. These adaptations result from natural selection, an example of which is the shift in peppered moth population coloration during the Industrial Revolution due to directional selection.
Step-by-step explanation:
Moths that can evade a bat's echolocation have adaptations that increase their likelihood of survival and reproduction. These adaptations may include behaviors such as flying away at the sound of a bat, dropping to the ground, or even emitting clicks to interfere with echolocation. Such characteristics enhance the moths' fitness, which is their ability to survive and reproduce in their environment. Over time, due to selection pressures exerted by the threat of predation, moths with beneficial adaptations are more likely to pass on their genes, contributing to the evolutionary process described by natural selection.
An example of this process is the Industrial Revolution's impact on the peppered moth population. Before industrial pollution, light-colored peppered moths blended into the environment, avoiding predators. Post-Industrial Revolution, with trees darkened by soot, dark-colored moths had a survival advantage, illustrating directional selection. This change in environmental conditions caused a shift in the population's genetic variance toward the newer, fit phenotype.