The Story…..

Evolution in Action

19th century industrial Britain

*Increase in pollution, smog and soot.

*Tends to stick to things

Peppered moths in Britain prior to Industrial age. White with a little bit of black.

Blended in well with the white bark and black peppered bark of the trees.

PEPPERED MOTHWhen parts of England became polluted; smoke destroyed the trees and blackened the tree bark. Pale colored moths, when resting on the tree trunks, were eaten by birds. Rare black moths were camouflaged in the black background; eventually birds switched from eating dark moths to pale moths.

Now the black moth was better adapted to the environment to survive and the birds began to eat the white moths.

The changing environment caused a change in moth population.

Valley of FireNew Mexico

*There were and are still rock pocket mice living in the area that are light brown and perfectly matched the desert floor.

*About 1,000 years ago a volcano erupted in the area covering about 40 miles with molten rock.

As that rock cooled it blackened….

*Now the light brown mice stood out on the black rocks and became easy prey for the predators that hunted them.

*Over time and a few generations, mice with black fur became more common on the black rock because the were better adapted to survive predation.

Now, only mice with dark fur live on the dark lava rocks and mice with light brown fur live off the rocks. If they cross over they risk being seen by prey.