Nope, won't work... It's too hard figuring out how to pronounce
the name. Likewise, bacterial adaptations can provide strong,
but unpopular examples. Few have any feel for bacteria or protists.
Black or white moths, on the other hand, are things that people
can easily visualize. It's makes a prettier story.
On the subjects of examples with some possibility of experimental
verification... I believe that someone is constructing artificial
ponds with different types of fish (sticklebacks? Maybe I'm confusing
species) to demonstrate how selection can "push" different populations
in different "morphological directions". Tail length and coloration
in males guppies has also been studied in natural and artificial
settings.
To Art:
You mentioned the researcher, Adrian Wenner. I heard about the bee
story a few years ago from a friend. She took a class from a professor
who had worked trying to debunk the "dancing bee" claims. He didn't
fair very well in the exchanges. I wonder if that person was Wenner.
Did Wenner teach at Santa Cruz or Santa Barbara (or some south-
Californian university)? One thing I thought was interesting was that
a Japanese group once tried to make a bee "robot" that could do the
bee dance. I don't think it worked...
Regards,
Tim Ikeda
tikeda@sprintmail.hormel.com (despam address before use)