I am looking for some enlightenment on the matter of the famous peppered
moths and industrial melanism. On a biology teachers' list, I am discussing
the matter with a fellow who say that because the pics were staged, the
whole matter is a case of fraud. That is, it gives the wrong idea to kids
about massaging data, doctoring things to look like you want them to, etc.
It is my understanding that what the pics are trying to show is the setting
for something that actually HAPPENED -- moths formerly selected against,
thus low pop'l freq., then increased in freq. with the change in bark color
due to the soot. The fellow seems to me to have a somewhat naive view of
what constitutes a useful image. His excitement over this is because he
doesn't want to give any ammo to creationists. I agree, but this seems to
be somewhat overreactive.
Is there more to this?
Jeff Witters
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