Which type of selection best describes the shift in peppered moth from the light form to the dark form following the industrial revolution? Directional Stabilizing Disruptive
Genetic Variation
Genetic variation refers to the variation in the genome sequences between individual organisms of a species. Individual differences or population differences can both be referred to as genetic variations. It is primarily caused by mutation, but other factors such as genetic drift and sexual reproduction also play a major role.
Quantitative Genetics
Quantitative genetics is the part of genetics that deals with the continuous trait, where the expression of various genes influences the phenotypes. Thus genes are expressed together to produce a trait with continuous variability. This is unlike the classical traits or qualitative traits, where each trait is controlled by the expression of a single or very few genes to produce a discontinuous variation.
Peppered Moths are a kind of moth found in the United Kingdom. Some of them are white, while others are black. Actually, very few of them are black since black stands out while sitting on a light surface, making them easier to detect and consume by birds.
But then came industrialization. Soot from industrial chimneys blackened plants in the vicinity of the factory towns, and the black moths had the upper hand. It was more difficult for birds to see when they sat on the dark vegetation. While the white moths were clearly visible, the number of black moths grew rapidly, while the number of white moths decreased dramatically.
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