Kettlewell's experiment

Peppered moth, carbonaria type on the left, and typica on the right

Kettlewell's experiment was a biological experiment in the mid-1950s to study the evolutionary mechanism of industrial melanism in the peppered moth (Biston betularia).[1][2] It was executed by Bernard Kettlewell, working as a research fellow in the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford. He was investigating the cause of the appearance of dark-coloured moth since Industrial Revolution in England in the 19th century. He conducted his first experiment in 1953 in the polluted woodland of Birmingham, and his second experiment in 1955 in Birmingham as well as in the clean woods of Dorset.

The experiment found that birds selectively prey on peppered moths depending on their body colour in relation to their environmental background. Thus, the evolution of a dark-coloured body provided a survival advantage in a polluted locality. The study concluded that "industrial melanism in moths is the most striking evolutionary phenomenon ever actually witnessed in any organism, animal or plant."[3] It is now regarded as the classic demonstration of Charles Darwin's natural selection in action and one of the most beautiful experiments in evolutionary biology.[4][5]

  1. ^ Cook, L M; Saccheri, I J (2012). "The peppered moth and industrial melanism: evolution of a natural selection case study". Heredity. 110 (3): 207–212. doi:10.1038/hdy.2012.92. PMC 3668657. PMID 23211788.
  2. ^ Nelson, Richard W. (2009). Darwin, Then and Now: The Most Amazing Story in the History of Science. Bloomington, US: IUniverse Inc. pp. 285–286. ISBN 9780595515752.
  3. ^ Kettlewell, H B D (1955). "Selection experiments on industrial melanism in the Lepidoptera". Heredity. 9 (3): 323–342. doi:10.1038/hdy.1955.36.
  4. ^ Rudge, David W. (2005). "The Beauty of Kettlewell's Classic Experimental Demonstration of Natural Selection". BioScience. 55 (4): 369–375. doi:10.1641/0006-3568(2005)055[0369:TBOKCE]2.0.CO;2.
  5. ^ Hagen, Joel B. (1999). "Retelling experiments: H.B.D. Kettlewell's studies of industrial melanism in peppered moths". Biology and Philosophy. 14 (1): 39–54. doi:10.1023/A:1006576518561. S2CID 81591392.