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As you know, natural selection is one of the two mechanisms that represent the foundation of Darwinism and are suggested to bring about evolution. One of the most important alleged proofs of natural selection's evolutionary power is, besides the myth of the Galapagos finches, have just been looking at, the darkening of the color of Biston betularia moths in Great Britain during the Industrial Revolution.253 This example, regarded as prime evidence of evolution, appears in just about every biology textbook and evolutionist resource, and is usually the first scenario that comes to mind when the theory of evolution is mentioned.
The British entomologist Bernard Kettlewell, renowned for his research into these Industrial-Revolution moths, describes them as "the most striking evolutionary change ever actually witnessed in any organism."254 Philip MacDonald Sheppard, a British geneticist, states that the Industrial-Revolution moths embody the "most spectacular evolutionary change ever witnessed and recorded by man."255 Sewall Wright, the recognized authority on population genetics, adds that it is "the clearest case in which a conspicuous evolutionary process has been actually observed."256
Professor Ali Demirsoy, one of Turkey's leading proponents of the theory of evolution, maintains that this is a most striking example of natural selection.257 Professor Demirsoy, who has described these Industrial Revolution moths in many of his books, describes their case as follows:
The most interesting example on this subject is the evolutionary change that took place in a moth species (Biston betularia) living in a region in England in which there was once dense factory smoke. These moths were white immediately before the Industrial Revolution (as far as we can tell from collections from the period) and lived on white lichens on the trunks of trees. This prevented them from being seen by predators. With the Industrial Revolution, these lichens darkened due to the soot emitted from factory chimneys, and light-colored moths became far more visible. Predators that fed on them, especially birds, were able to catch them much more easily. However, the very small number of dark-colored individuals in the population prior to the Industrial Revolution acquired a great advantage due to this color change. Much of the population soon came to consist of dark-colored moths." 258
First, let's consider the evolutionist claims regarding a classical instance of natural selection and perhaps the best-known story of evolutionary biology.259
References
- Timothy A. Mousseau, Alexander E. Olvido, "Geographical Variation", Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, ğ.els.net ↩
- Bernard Kettlewell, "Selection experiments on industrial melanism in the Lepidoptera," Heredity, Vol. 9, 1955, p. 323. ↩
- Philip MacDonald Sheppard, Natural Selection and Heredity, 4th edition, London: Hutchinson, 1975, p. 70. ↩
- Sewall Wright, Evolution and the Genetics of Populations, Volume 4: "Variability Within and Among Natural Populations", Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1978, p. 186. ↩
- Prof. Dr. Ali Demirsoy, Kalıtım ve Evrim, Ankara: Meteksan Yayınları, 1984, p. 644. ↩
- Prof. Dr. Ali Demirsoy, Yaşamın Temel Kuralları Vol. I / Nov. 1, 11th edition, Ankara:Meteksan Yayınları, , 1998, p. 600. ↩
- Mark Ridley, Evolution, 2nd edition, Cambridge (MA): Blackwell Science, 1996, pp. 103-109 ↩