evolution: natural selection

Question

Industrial melanism in peppered moths exemplifies:

RankGuru · Accepted Answer

1. **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.
2. **Post-Industrialization**: Soot darkened the trees and killed lichens. Now, light moths were vulnerable, and dark moths had a survival advantage.
3. **Shift**: Natural selection favored one extreme phenotype (melanic/dark) over the other.
4. **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.

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evolution: natural selection

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