Question

The graph shows the results of a famous biological experiment. In the experiment, Kettlewell believed that the peppered moth demonstrated how environmental pressures influence evolution. He studied two areas. Birmingham was a rural wood, with natural conditions. Dorset was an urban, industrial area. The moths use tree trunks to camouflage themselves against birds, which are their major predators. Natural gene variations produce a light form of the peppered moth, and a dark form, meaning that they are not equally visible.
All BUT ONE statement is supported by Kettlewell's data. That is

Question 1 options:

Light moths had a survival advantage in forested Birmingham.


Dark moths had a survival disadvantage in forested Birmingham.


Dark moths had a survival disadvantage in industrial Dorset.


Light moths had a survival disadvantage in industrial Dorset.

Answer 1

Answer:

A

Explanation:

Dark moths had a survival disadvantage in industrial Dorset. After the introduction of industry, the dark moth population remained approximately the same in Dorset to Birmingham. However, the light moths in the rural area still had a much larger population.

Answer 2

Answer:

C. Dark Moths had a survival disadvantage in industrial Dorset

Explanation:

Looking at the graph, you can see that the Dark Moth, compared to the Light Moth actually had a survival advantage.

I won't be explaining the why's to this phenomena, considering that the question is based solely on the graph.

Compare the two bars of Dorset. The Light Colored moths are represented by the green graph while the Dark colored moths are represented by the orange bar. The orange bar extends further that the green bar, showing that they recovered better than the other. So this means they were at an advantage and NOT at a disadvantage.