From: Keith Miller (kbmill@ksu.edu)
Date: Tue Oct 14 2003 - 10:12:40 EDT
> I guess it was this thread where you asserted that criticisms of the
> "Icons" were offtrack. What is your take of Jerry Coyne's review
> written in Nature 1998 where he states:
>
> Finally, the results of Kettlewellís behavioural
> experiments were not replicated in
> later studies: moths have no tendency to
> choose matching backgrounds. Majerus
> finds many other flaws in the work, but they
> are too numerous to list here. I unearthed
> additional problems when, embarrassed
> at having taught the standard Biston story
> for years, I read Kettlewellís papers for the
> first time.
Wells' critique of the work on evolutionary change in the peppered moth
was substantially drawn from the work of Michael Majerus (Melanism:
Evolution in Action" by Michael E.N. Majerus: Oxford University
Press,1998).
Wells quotes the following sentence from Majerus' book: "The findings
of these scientists show that the precised description of the basic
peppered moth story is wrong, inaccurate, or incomplete, with respect
to most of the story's component parts."
However, the next sentence reads: "When details of the genetics,
behaviour, and ecology of this moth are taken into account, the
resulting story is one of greater complexity, and in many ways greater
interest, than the simple story that is usually related."
Furthermore, a couple sentences later Majerus states: "First, it is
important to emphasize that, in my view, the huge wealth of additional
data obtained since Kettlewell's initial predation papers (Kettlewell
1955a, 1956), does not undermine the basic qualitative deductions from
that work. Differential bird predation of the typica and carbonaria
forms, in habitats affected by industrial pollution to different
degrees, is the primary influence on the evolution of melanism in the
peppered moth."
Jerry Coyne in a letter to a newspaper or journal says that Wells also
misrepresented him. I have been trying to trace that letter down, but
have not yet found it. I will post it when I find it.
Keith
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Tue Oct 14 2003 - 10:12:56 EDT