
	Where results make sense

Topic: Peppered moth

Related Topics

Bernard Kettlewell

Moth

Emperor Gum Moth

Bogong Moth

Atlas moth

Pasture Day Moth

Gypsy moth

Ghost moth

Luna Moth

Geometer moth

Emperor Moth

Biston (moth)

Theory of evolution

Peach Blossom

Natural selection

	The Nature Institute - The Tyranny of a Concept: The Case of the Peppered Moth
		A dark variety of the otherwise light-colored peppered moth appeared in England in the mid-nineteenth century and its numbers continued to grow in the industrial areas of England.
		He concluded that natural selection via bird predation in polluted forests was causing peppered moth populations to evolve from the light to the dark variety.
		Light and dark forms of the peppered moth were photographed against the trunk of an oak tree flened by the polluted air of Birmingham, England.
	natureinstitute.org /pub/ic/ic8/moth.htm (1600 words)

	Peppered moth - EvoWiki (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		Peppered moths fall with in the family Geometridae, the geometer or geometric moths; one of the numerous families of Lepidoptera.
		Peppered moth larvae appear to be generalist leaf-eaters, consuming a wide variety of species.
		In the peppered moth, camouflage is the primary means of larval defense.
	wiki.cotch.net /index.php/Peppered_moth (5465 words)

	Peppered moth evolution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		In peppered moths, the allele for dark-bodied moths is dominant, while the allele for light-bodied moths is recessive, meaning that the typica moths have a phenotype (visible or detectable characteristic) that is only seen in a homozygous genotype (an organism that has two copies of the same allele), and never in a heterozygous one.
		By the mid-19th century, the number of dark-colored moths had risen noticeably, and by 1895, the percentage of dark-colored moths in the Manchester peppered moth population was reported at 98%, a dramatic change (by almost 1000%) from the original frequency.
		Upon learning that peppered moths are not normally found on tree trunks, and that lichen changes didn't match the observed moth evolution timeline, Coyne compared his reaction to "the dismay attending my discovery, at age 6, that it was my father and not Santa who brought the presents on Christmas Eve".
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Peppered_moth_evolution (2755 words)

	Peppered moth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		The Peppered Moth (Biston betularia) is a temperate species of night-flying moth often used by educators as an example of natural selection.
		In Britain, the Peppered Moth is univoltine (i.e.
		Since then, with improved environmental standards, light-colored peppered moths have again become common, but the dramatic change in the peppered moth's population has remained a subject of much interest and study, and has led to the coining of the term industrial melanism to refer to the genetic darkening of species in response to pollutants.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Peppered_moth (1787 words)

	Second Thoughts About Peppered Moths
		If peppered moths normally rest under horizontal branches in the upper canopy, then observations of differential bird predation on moths which are placed on tree trunks probably have little relevance to their survival in the wild.
		A decline of melanism in the peppered moth Biston betularia in The Netherlands.
		Melanism and predation by birds in the moths Biston betularia and Phigalia pilosauria.
	www.trueorigin.org /pepmoth1.asp (4679 words)

	The Peppered Moth
		The light-colored form of the moth, known as typica, was the predominant form in England prior to the beginning of the industrial revolution.
		The increase in carbonaria moths was so dramatic that many naturalists made the immediate suggestion that it had to be the result of the effects of industrial activity on the local landscape.
		The population of dark moths rose and fell in parallel to industrial pollution, and the percentage of dark moths in the population was clearly highest in regions of the countryside that were most polluted.
	www.millerandlevine.com /km/evol/Moths/moths.html (1229 words)

	The Nature Institute - Science as Process or Dogma? The Case of the Peppered Moth
		The peppered moth is used in high school and college biology courses, as well as in many textbooks, to illustrate evolution via natural selection.
		The "peppered moth," Biston betularia, occurs in light and dark (melanic) forms, both of which are shown in Figure 1.
		He said: what the peppered moth is really showing us is how a species, by having different forms, is more flexible and able to survive as one species; the populations and varieties of the species fluctuate, but the species as a whole continues to thrive.
	www.natureinstitute.org /txt/ch/moth.htm (5130 words)

	CB601: The peppered moth story
		According to the traditional peppered moth story, cryptic coloration confers protection to the moths from predators, and as the habitat changed due to industrial pollution, natural selection caused the frequencies of different color varieties of the moth to change.
		That story is no longer supportable because of flaws found in the experiments, such as where the moths rested, and the occurrence of contrary data, such as unaccountable frequencies of uncamouflaged moths in areas.
		Even though Kettlewell released his moths in daylight when a night release would have been more true to nature, he used the same procedure in areas that differed only in the amount of industrial pollution, showing conclusively that industrial pollution was a factor responsible for the difference in predation between color varieties.
	www.talkorigins.org /indexcc/CB/CB601.html (539 words)

	Peppered Moth Evolution Kit
		In 1953 Bernard Kettlewell performed a set of experiments that proved that predation by birds was responsible for the peppered moth population changing from mostly white to mostly fl.
		Some are beginning to say that the case of the peppered moth may be one of the biggest cases of scientific fraud of the twentieth century, up there with the Piltdown Man.
		You see, moths tend not to rest on tree trunks during the day; their main predators are bats, not birds; and anyway, birds see more in the UV range than people do, so what looks camouflaged to us may not look so to a bird.
	www.museumofhoaxes.com /hoax/weblog/permalink/peppered_moth_evolution_kit (238 words)

	Guardian Unlimited Books \| By genre \| Review: Of Moths and Men by Judith Hooper
		The story of the peppered moth is a case in point, according to Judith Hooper.
		The peppered moth experiment was "sacred"; critics were "demonised", their views dismissed as "heresy".
		In the wild, peppered moths don't hang around on exposed tree trunks long enough to be eaten, preferring the shady undersides of branches.
	books.guardian.co.uk /reviews/scienceandnature/0,6121,713294,00.html (894 words)

	Objectivity of Science - Peppered Moth
		In polluted areas the fl moths were better camouflaged against the dark tree trunks, and so less likely to be eaten by birds, a perfect demonstration of the survival of the fittest.
		The peppered moth became the classic example of the phenomenon of industrial melanism, where all-dark individuals became the dominant form.
		Peppered moths do not alight on tree trunks long enough to be eaten, preferring the shady undersides of branches.
	www.skepticalinvestigations.org /objectivity/pepperedmoth.htm (661 words)

	Peppered Moth Simulation (Paper & Pencil) (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		One example of rapid industrial melanism occurred in populations of peppered moths in the area of Manchester, England from 1845 to 1890.
		Most of the peppered moths in the area were light colored with dark spots.
		Plot the years of the study on the X-axis, and the number of moths captured on the Y axis.
	www.biologycorner.com /worksheets/peppermoth_paper.html (329 words)

	Literature Review: The Peppered moth and intelligent design
		The peppered moth is a very interesting example of how natural selection and variation can explain the distribution of the moth in rural and industrial England (and beyond).
		Most researchers familiar with the peppered moth strongly suggest that differential bird predation is the major cause of the distribution of moths.
		A vaste majority of those researchers who have worked with peppered moths and studied them (Coyne and the Discovery Institute hardly qualify as experts here), have indicated that they consider bird predation to be one of the major factors explaining the spatial and temporal distribution of the peppered moth.
	www.iscid.org /boards/ubb-get_topic-f-18-t-000014.html (4619 words)

	Peppered Moth Example Now Discredited
		Pollution caused soot to accumulate and darken the lichen on the trees.
		This caused the darker form of the moth to survive because now it blended better and was harder for birds to see.
		Despite the dishonesty of the peppered moth story natural selection is an easily observable fact of biology.
	www.creationdefense.org /101.htm (663 words)

	Scientists pick holes in Darwinian Peppered Moth Theory [Free Republic] (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		Wells argues: Pictures of peppered moths camouflaged on tree trunks are used as evidence for natural selection, but biologists have known since the 1980s that the moths don’t normally rest on tree trunks, and in any event all the pictures have been staged.
		Pictures of peppered moths are not used as evidence of natural selection, but to illustrate the camouflage differences between the pale and dark forms of the peppered moth on various backgrounds.
		Peppered moths rest on a variety of places on a tree, including tree trunks (about 25% of the time according to the best study so far).
	www.freerepublic.com /forum/a3b6ac79f6d40.htm (8292 words)

	The Peppered Moth
		Almost all peppered moths were gray with dark flecks, but very rarely a fl moth was observed.
		Peppered moths rest during the day on tree trunks, where they are vulnerable to being eaten by birds.
		In industrial areas, because fl moths avoided being eaten by birds, they survived better and therefore reproduced more (had higher fitness.) As a result, each generation, more and more of the offspring born came from fl parents and inherited the fl coloration, since the color differences between moths (gray versus fl) are genetic.
	www.utm.edu /departments/cens/biology/rirwin/391/moth.htm (458 words)

	TEXTBOOK FRAUD: Pepper Moth (biston betularia): "Piltdown Moth"
		Fails to tell you that the Oak Beauty is the Pepper moth's closest relative in England and is a trunk rester, (unlike the Pepper moth) yet the melanic form may have increased from 33-36%, but was always in the minority although it lived in the same areas as the Pepper moth.
		If Pepper moths possess the ability to match their wing colour to resting position, as Kettlewell’s experiments (never reproduced by others) seemed to indicate, then both colours would select camouflaged resting positions regardless of whether they are in polluted or unpolluted forests.
		Since the Ghost moth is eaten by birds, the melanic in the north and the white male in the south, are exactly opposite to Pepper moth theory.
	www.bible.ca /tracks/textbook-fraud-pepper-moth-biston-betularia.htm (17257 words)

	Evolution never sleeps
		The story of peppered moths is a great example of evolutionary changes in relatively short periods of time.
		In 1850 There were 23 light moths for each dark one whereas in 1900 the ratio is one light to 23 dark.
		At this point it would be good to explain that when we talk about the moths "adapting" to their environment we are using a verbal shortcut that can lead to confusion.
	www.cienciateca.com /stsevol.html (886 words)

	Evidence for Evolution (Page 7) (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		Biologists soon noticed that in industrialized regions where the dark moths were common, the tree trunks were darkened almost fl by the soot of pollution.
		He suggested that peppered forms were more visible to predators on sooty trees that have lost their lichens.
		To evaluate his results, he had marked the released moths with a dot of paint on the underside of their wings, where birds could not see it.
	www.txtwriter.com /Backgrounders/Evolution/EVpage07.html (625 words)

	Truth In Science - News Blog
		Population change in the peppered moth has long been seen as a classic example of natural selection in action.
		Whilst Truth in Science welcomes his research, we note that he provides little statistical analysis of his results, whilst making some bold claims (and rather bizarre concluding remarks).
		We look forward to being able to update our article on the peppered moth when Dr Majerus has published his findings – with significant statistical tests of his results – in a peer-reviewed journal article.
	www.truthinscience.org.uk /site/content/blogcategory/51/63 (1002 words)

	Moonshine: Why the Peppered Moth Remains an Icon of Evolution
		Kettlewell was a distinguished naturalist whose studies on predation in peppered moths were a landmark in demonstrating natural selection in the wild.
		Kettlewell reported releasing and recapturing moths during an 11-day period in 1953. His data are reproduced in Table 1 (1955: 332). The numbering of the days is mine.
		It is an irresponsible leap to accuse a distinguished naturalist of fraud on the basis of a single letter and a wholly imperfect, offhand analysis of his data. The peppered moth properly remains a valid paradigm, no, an icon, of evolution.
	www.talkdesign.org /faqs/moonshine.htm (1902 words)

	The case of the peppered moth illusion - science teaching needs to challenge traditional views of science Whole Earth - ...
		The "peppered moth," Biston betularia, occurs in light and dark...
		Kettlewell bred moths in the laboratory in order to have large enough numbers for experiments--especially of females, so hard to trap at night--and marked the underside of their wings for later identification.
		Light and dark forms of the moth were then released early in the morning into both unpolluted and polluted forests.
	www.findarticles.com /p/articles/mi_m0GER/is_1999_Spring/ai_54321422 (840 words)

	The Peppered Moth: Evolution Comes Unglued (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		Now the dark variety of moth was camouflaged better as it rested on the dark, sooty trunks, so birds now ate more of the light moths that they could see better.
		The peppered moth story has been trumpeted since the 1950s as proof positive that evolution by natural selection is true.
		The main problem with the peppered moth story is that it has been known since about 1980 that the nocturnal peppered moth does not rest on the trunks of trees during the day.
	clcoc.org /news/peppered.htm (510 words)

	Second Thoughts About Peppered Moths (unedited): Wells, Jonathan
		In 1848, a coal-fl "melanic" form was collected near Manchester, England, and by 1950 melanic forms made up more than 90% of the peppered moths in that area.
		One recent evolution textbook calls it "a classic example of natural selection" which is "perhaps the best-known story in evolutionary biology," though the story is "now known to be more complex" than originally thought (Ridley 1996, pp.
		Whatever the actual causes may be, Berry concluded, "it is clear that melanic peppered moth frequencies are determined by much more than differential visual predation by birds" (Berry 1990, p.
	www.arn.org /docs/wells/jw_pepmoth.htm (4764 words)

	The Moth Files
		Since there is that confusion, and since the moth story is so easy to understand and explain, it is not surprising that evolution’s apostles were motivated to ‘push’ the Peppered Moth scenario as hard as possible in educational and media circles.
		The famous photos of light and dark moths resting on a lichen-covered tree trunk were faked by pinning and/or gluing dead moths onto logs or trunks.
		The consensus appears to be, however, that the proportion of dark to light moths did indeed rise and fall in concert with the rise of (and subsequent decline in) industrial pollution.
	www.answersingenesis.org /creation/v25/i1/moth.asp (1294 words)

Try your search on: Qwika (all wikis)