How can Natural Selection be observed?

BACKGROUND:
In some organisms that have a short life
cycle, biologists have observed the
evolution of adaptations to rapid
environmental changes. In the early
1950s, English biologist H.B. Kettlewell
studied camouflage adaptations in a
population of light- and dark-colored
peppered moths, Biston betularia.
The moths rested on the trunks of trees that grew in both the country and
the city. Moths are usually speckled gray-brown, and dark moths, which
occur occasionally, are black. Birds pluck the moths from the trees for food.
Urban industrial pollution had blackened the bark of city trees with soot.

ANALYSIS:
Kettlewell raised more than 3000 caterpillars to provide adult moths. He
marked the wings of the moths these caterpillars produced so that he would
recapture only his moths. In a series of trials in the country and the city, he
released and recaptured the moths. The number of moths recaptured in a
trial indicated how well the moths survived in the environment.

Location

COMPARISON OF COUNTRY AND CITY MOTHS

Number of
Number of

Country
Country
City
City

Released
Recaptured
Released
Recaptured

Light Moths
496
62
137
18

Dark Moths
488
34
493
136

THINKING CRITICALLY:
Calculate the percentage of moths recaptured in each experiment. Please
show all your calculations in the spaces below.
COUNTRY LIGHT MOTHS: 62/496 = .125

.125*100 = 12.5

COUNTRY DARK MOTHS: 34/488 = .07 .07*100 = 7

CITY LIGHT MOTHS: 18/137 = .131 .13*100 = 13

CITY DARK MOTHS: 136/493 = .28 .28*100 = 28

12.5%

7%

13%

28%

Explain any differences in survival rates in the country and city moths in
terms of natural selection. In your explanation, please be sure to:
- Explain why more light-colored moths survived in the country.
- Did the light-colored moths have any advantage over the darkcolored moths in the country? If so, what was the advantage?
- Explain why more dark-colored moths survived in the city.

- Did the dark-colored moths have any advantage over the lightcolored moths in the city? If so, what was the advantage?
- Why is this experiment a good example of natural selection?

More light colored moths survived in the country compared to dark colored
moths, but overall the greatest number of recovered moths were the dark
colored moths in the city. The reason why more light colored moths survived
in the country was because they could camouflage into their surroundings
better than the dark colored moths could. Since no soot could cover the
trees in the country, the dark colored moths were the ones that stood out. In
the city, industry was big (at the time) and there was a lot of air pollution
and soot covering the once light trees. This is where the dark moths could
camouflage, but the light moths stood out. This experiment is a good
example of natural selection in an animals environment. If moths lived in
the city, all the light colored moths would be eaten, leaving the dark colored
moths to reproduce until there are no more white moths in the area. If the
moths lived in the country, the black moths would be eaten and the white
moths would go off to reproduce.