Industrial melanism is an example of : A. Neo Darwinism B. Natural selection C. Mutation D. Neo Lamarckism
Option B. Industrial melanism is an evolutionary effect prominent in several arthropods. In this, dark pigmentation has evolved in an environment affected by industrial pollution. A study was conducted where peppered moths lived where light-coloured lichens covered with trees. For camouflage from predators against that clean background, they had light colouration. During the industrial revolution, sulfur dioxide pollution in the atmosphere reduced the lichen cover, soot-blackened the bark of urban trees, making the light-coloured moths more vulnerable to predation. Thus, the dark-coloured moths were selected over light-coloured moths. By end of the 19th century, the original light coloured type was completely replaced.
