CUET Preparation Today
The reason for the survival of the melanised moth, during the post-industrialization period in England was: |
The melanised moth camouflage with the tree trunks that became dark due to the deposition of industrial smoke and soot so that melanised moth remain unnoticed by predators. Melanised moth were able to tolerate and adapted to the high pollution level due to industrialization where as white winged moth were not able to adapt the high pollution level. The lichens on the tree trunk were food only for the white winged moth and due to industrialisation lichens vanished and thus white winged moth died due to the scarcity of the food and melanised moth got survived. Melanised moth were naturally selected and fittest to survive where white winged were not. |
The melanised moth camouflage with the tree trunks that became dark due to the deposition of industrial smoke and soot so that melanised moth remain unnoticed by predators. |
The correct answer is Option (1) → The melanised moth camouflage with the tree trunks that became dark due to the deposition of industrial smoke and soot so that melanised moth remain unnoticed by predators. After industrialisation, pollution caused tree trunks to become darker and light-coloured backgrounds disappeared. Dark-coloured moths blended with this new background and were less visible to birds, while white moths were easily spotted and eaten. Because of this advantage of camouflage, the melanised moths survived and increased in number. Option (4) – Incomplete/Not the best answer: This option mentions natural selection, which is true as a general concept, but it does not state the actual mechanism by which survival happened. |
