Evolution: Natural Selection
Industrial melanism in peppered moths exemplifies:
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About This Question
- Subject
- biology
- Chapter
- genetics and evolution
- Topic
- evolution: natural selection
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Year
- 2025
Solution
Correct Answer:
Directional selection
- Pre-Industrialization: Most peppered moths were light-colored to blend in with lichen-covered tree trunks. Dark moths were easily spotted and eaten by birds.
- Post-Industrialization: Soot darkened the trees and killed lichens. Now, light moths were vulnerable, and dark moths had a survival advantage.
- Shift: Natural selection favored one extreme phenotype (melanic/dark) over the other.
- Nature of Selection: This is Directional Selection, where the average phenotype of a population shifts in one specific direction in response to an environmental change.
This easy difficulty biology question is from the chapter genetics and evolution, covering the topic of evolution: natural selection. It appeared in the 2025 exam.
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