Natural Selection Observed (corrected) 1B.

Overtime, mutations happen and the color of the moth is changed from light to dark. The proportion of dark moths changed, from as little as 0.0005% to more than 90% in polluted forests. During the industrial era, soot covered the trees and dark moths were able to blend into the trees. Light moths could no longer blend into the trees, and the population of light moths decreased. Predators preyed on the light moths, and the dark moths stayed camouflaged, due to the environmental change (darker trees). More dark moths survived and reproduced, and their traits were passed down to the offspring, resulting in dark moth populations. 2. Darwin s idea of evolution was that the earth was old and change was slow. The moths were light colored, but mutations occurred and some were dark colored. Because the environment they lived in were light, unpolluted trees, white moths were able to blend in easily, therefore light colored moths had a greater chance of surviving in an unpolluted forest. Population size of dark moths was low because they were vulnerable to predators. But when the soot from industries darkened the trees, population increased. Predators preyed on the light moths instead, because dark moths could now blend into the darkened trees. Dark moths were able to reproduce, and their offspring had the dark color trait as well. Survival of the Fittest. In an unpolluted environment, light moths have the survival advantage, because they can camouflage in the trees. Dark moth population would be low in these environments. However, in a polluted environment, dark moths have the survival advantage, blending into the darkened trees. Different colored moths are suited to different types of environment. In Darwin s theory, he mentioned Variations. In moths, there were a variation of colored moths; the dark and light ones. This is due to random mutations that happened overtime, and in polluted environments, they were able to reproduce and increase their population. Favorable traits make the organism more likely to survive and reproduce. These offspring will inherit the advantageous traits, and the organisms with less favorable traits are less likely to survive and reproduce, and so those traits would less likely be passed down to the offspring. There will always be a struggle for survival. Environmental changes select one color over the other as a survival advantage, there will always be an increase or decrease in the different color moths. The most fit in the environment is most likely to survive (light moths in unpolluted forest, dark moths in polluted forests) 3B. Yes, new species can evolve from ancestral species. Due to mutations over a long period of time, dark moth populations became existent. There is now a light moth species and a dark moth species. If species can still interbreed with one another, there is no new species. However, if the two colored moths no longer interbreed, they would be classified as two different species. That is the way of determining if the organism is to be considered as new species or not. Dark moths are a result of a mutation from its original ancestral species. If the 2 new populations (dark and light moths) no longer interbreed, those two are to be considered as two different species.