Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!osu-cis!tut!bgsuvax!gagen From: gagen@bgsuvax.UUCP (kathleen gagen) Newsgroups: sci.bio Subject: Re: counterexamples to creationism Message-ID: <1545@bgsuvax.UUCP> Date: 5 Feb 88 23:50:37 GMT References: <10628@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU> Organization: Bowling Green State University B.G., Oh. Lines: 33 From article <10628@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU>, by ajw@manatee.cis.ufl.edu (Andy Wilcox): > > In addition, there was some kind of moth in England that changed color > with the industrial revolution to match the color of the (now > blackened) tree trunks. This was due to the birds eating the light > colored moths. This is not an example of speciation. It is my understanding that the original moths included mostly light colored moths with an occassional rare dark moth. Befor the industrial revolution, the light colored moths had a selective advantage due to protective coloration. The advant of the industrial revolution was accompanied by a change in the environment. Industrial soot turned the environment black. As a result, the few rare dark moths blended in with their environment while the light moths were more easily seen by the birds looking for dinner. As a result, a progressively larger proportion of dark moths survived and reproduced while a progressively larger proportion of light colored moths were eaten. Gobbled moths leave few progeny. As a result, there was an increase in the frequency of genes coding for dark coloration. This progressive shift in gene frequency over several generations resulted in dark coloration becomming the dominant phenotype. A review of this phenomemon can be obtained from any good evolutionary genetics test. ---- Kathi Gagen -- Kathleen Pausic Gagen ...!cbosgd!osu-cis!bgsuvax!gagen Dept. of Biological Sciences gagen@research1.bgsu.edu Bowling Green State University gagen%bgsu.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa Bowling Green Ohio 43403 gagen%andy.bgsu.edu@csnet-relay.csnet