Q.The phenomenon of “Industrial Melanism” demonstrates a) Natural selection b) induced mutation c) reproductive isolation d) geographical isolation

Step 1. Before industrialisation, light-coloured peppered moths were camouflaged on pale bark/walls and survived better than dark moths.

Step 2. After industrial soot darkened tree trunks, the camouflage advantage reversed — dark moths were now hidden while light moths became conspicuous to predators.

Step 3. This shift in survival advantage caused the proportion of dark moths in the population to rise sharply over generations — exactly the mechanism of differential survival and reproduction that defines natural selection. …

Identify that the phenomenon changes which existing phenotype survives and reproduces better — the hallmark o …

• Calling it 'induced mutation' — the dark allele already existed in the population before industrialisation; only its survival advantage changed. …