How did scientists test the peppered-moth story?
Light and dark peppered moths became a famous example of evolution in industrial environments. But photographs of moths on tree trunks cannot by themselves establish what caused their changing numbers. Explore how field experiments tested bird predation and addressed criticisms of earlier methods.
Questions you could explore
- How could an experiment’s setup change what it appears to show?
- What observations would test the proposed link between a trait and survival in a particular environment?
Start reading
- Biology Letters; UCL Discovery repositorySelective bird predation on the peppered moth: the last experiment of Michael Majerus
The research paper describes the field methods and results; it distinguishes observations from the broader explanation.
- Natural History Museum, LondonSpecies variation game: peppered moth lucky landing
The Natural History Museum supplies an accessible account of variation and the peppered-moth example.
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