Observing Evolution: Peppered Moths and the Discovery of Parallel Melanism

A firsthand account of how a modest moth demonstrated Darwin's theory of natural selection.

The extraordinary tale of the humble peppered moth is at the very foundation of our acceptance of Darwinian evolution. When scientists in the early twentieth century discovered that a British population of the small, speckled Biston betularia had become black over the course of mere decades in response to the Industrial Revolution's encroaching soot, the revelation cemented Darwin's theory of natural ...