Melanism: Evolution in Action
Encyclopedia
Bernard Kettlewell
Henry Bernard Davis Kettlewell was a British geneticist, lepidopterist and medical doctor, who carried out research into the influence of industrial melanism on natural selection in moths, showing why moths are darker in polluted areas.-Early life:Kettlewell was born in Howden, Yorkshire, and...
's book The Evolution of Melanism
The Evolution of Melanism
The Evolution of Melanism: a study of recurring necessity; with special reference to industrial melanism in the Lepidoptera is a 1973 science book by the lepidopterist Bernard Kettlewell....
.
The book contains a very useful summary of Majerus' work on melanism in ladybirds and a review of the peppered moth
Peppered moth
The peppered moth is a temperate species of night-flying moth. Peppered moth evolution is often used by educators as an example of natural selection.- Distribution :...
story, including observations on moth behavior which sparked controversy. It has been criticised for being unevenly edited so as not to suit any one audience in its entirety. For example, it explains the basic principles of evolution such as the Hardy-Weinberg law in earlier sections, and in later sections includes graduate level concepts.
Jerry Coyne
Jerry Coyne
-Online articles:* , The New Republic* , The New Republic* , The New Republic* ", The New Republic * -Online articles:* , The New Republic* , The New Republic* , The New Republic* ", The New Republic (Review of Michael Behe's The Edge of Evolution)* -Online articles:* , The New Republic* , The...
reviewed the book for Nature
Nature (journal)
Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...
, calling attention to the importance of the new moth behavior observations, and how they shook Bernard Kettlewell
Bernard Kettlewell
Henry Bernard Davis Kettlewell was a British geneticist, lepidopterist and medical doctor, who carried out research into the influence of industrial melanism on natural selection in moths, showing why moths are darker in polluted areas.-Early life:Kettlewell was born in Howden, Yorkshire, and...
's original hypothesis.
This review has been criticised by Majerus and others of not being representative of the work. Other reviews such as by Laurence Cook fail to see the controversy coming.
See also
- Peppered moth evolution#Criticism and controversy