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Author Topic:   Peppered Moths and Natural Selection
tuned2g
Inactive Member


Message 183 of 350 (351688)
09-23-2006 10:08 PM
Reply to: Message 182 by RAZD
09-09-2006 10:13 PM


Re: yes or no?
Yes--the documented changes of coloration of peppered moths is an example of natural selection. But does this prove evolution? Natural selection is the premise of the survival-of-the-fittest--organisms that exhibit traits more ideal for their environment will out-survive organisms without these traits and reproduce, ie dark-colored moths survive near the factories because light-colored moths stand out on the bark of dark-colored trees and are more easily seen by predators, while the dark-colored moths are hidden better. Thus the population is dominantly darker colored after several generations of moths reproducing since the lighter ones are being eaten! Anyway, natural selection can and does cause such variation in the natural world that can give rise to new species and even new genus. This has been observed and well, I know it used to be called microevolution, though I have heard that term is somewhat out of date. But natural selection cannot account for macroevolution, ie taking a one-celled organism and evolving it into a vertebrate through many transitional forms, because microevolution deals with only with genes that are already in place! Macroevolution requires the addition of new genes! These peppered moths will always be peppered moths, no matter how much they mutate. They will need an entirely new genome to become something else. Thus, natural selection is proven scientific fact... but the theory of evolution is not.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 182 by RAZD, posted 09-09-2006 10:13 PM RAZD has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 184 by Omnivorous, posted 09-23-2006 11:00 PM tuned2g has not replied
 Message 185 by RAZD, posted 09-24-2006 12:49 AM tuned2g has not replied
 Message 187 by MartinV, posted 09-25-2006 2:35 PM tuned2g has not replied

  
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