The industrial melanism observed in the peppered moth (Biston betularia) in England following industrialization provides classic evidence for:

Answer and explanation

Correct answer: C. Natural selection favoring pre-existing melanic variants in soot-covered environments

  1. Step 1: Before the industrial revolution, light-colored lichens coated tree trunks in England, providing camouflage for white-winged moths against predatory birds.
  2. Step 2: Industrial soot killed lichens and darkened tree bark, causing light moths to be easily spotted and preyed upon.
  3. Step 3: The rare dark (melanic) variants (carbonaria), which arose by pre-existing spontaneous mutation, gained selective camouflage advantage and survived at higher rates, shifting the population frequency (directional natural selection).
Answer
Natural selection favoring pre-existing melanic variants in soot-covered environments.
Why not the others: Lamarckian inheritance would imply moths deliberately turned black in response to smoke; Conscious mimicry is biologically impossible in insects; Smoke did not induce directed mutations.

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