Question

Which form of the peppered moth do you think had higher mortality in forests in unpolluted areas where tree trunks and branches are lighter? ______ Explain your reasoning:

Answer 1

In unpolluted areas with lighter trees, dark-colored peppered moths had higher mortality due to being more visible to predators, demonstrating an example of directional selection favoring the light-colored variants before the Industrial Revolution.

Step-by-step explanation:

In forests in unpolluted areas where tree trunks and branches are lighter, the form of the peppered moth that would have had higher mortality would be the dark-colored moths. This is because dark moths would stand out against the light-colored background, making them more visible to predators like birds. Selective predation, as hypothesized by J.W. Tutt in 1896, would thus lead to more light-colored moths surviving and reproducing, as they are better camouflaged in such environments. Conversely, the rise of pollution during the Industrial Revolution led to soot darkening tree trunks, shifting the advantage to the dark-colored moths. This is an example of directional selection where the dominant coloration of the moth population changes in response to environmental changes. Light-colored moths then became more vulnerable to predation against the now darker trees.