Changes

==Evolutionary claims==

==Evolutionary claims==

An English naturalist named R.S. Edleston was the first recorded individual to identify a black peppered moth, writing in his journal in 1848: ''"Today I caught an almost totally black form of Biston betualria (peppered moth) near the centre of Manchester"''<ref>http://cc.pima.edu/~rwakefield/BIO_100IN_SP15/M012/A12_Peppered_moth_transcript.htm</ref>. The area of Manchester in north-central England was part of a major creation and expansion of factories as the Industrial Revolution was in full swing.  Providing the power for the machinery was coal, and it was the soot from coal burning that deposited on trees, turning grey trunks covered in mottled lichen black.

An English naturalist named R.S. Edleston was the first recorded individual to identify a black peppered moth, writing in his journal in 1848: ''"Today I caught an almost totally black form of Biston betualria (peppered moth) near the centre of Manchester"''.<ref>http://cc.pima.edu/~rwakefield/BIO_100IN_SP15/M012/A12_Peppered_moth_transcript.htm</ref>  The area of Manchester in north-central England was part of a major creation and expansion of factories as the Industrial Revolution was in full swing.  Providing the power for the machinery was coal, and it was the soot from coal burning that deposited on trees, turning grey trunks covered in mottled lichen black.

Since 1848 claims were made about the peppered moth confirming [[evolution]].  The basic explanation of this theory state the following:

Since 1848 claims were made about the peppered moth confirming [[evolution]].  The basic explanation of this theory state the following:

In the 1950's a researcher named H.B.D. Kettlewell did experiments concerning the two color morphs, expecting to see the black form picked off by birds when resting on clean tree trunks with the normal form untouched, and vice-versa when the trunks were blackened.  Bats were not considered as a factor due to hunting the moths in flight with sonar, and not by sight.  He concluded that ''"industrial melanism in moths is the most striking evolutionary phenomenon ever actually witnessed in any organism, animal or plant"''<ref>http://www.nature.com/hdy/journal/v9/n3/abs/hdy195536a.html</ref>

In the 1950's a researcher named H.B.D. Kettlewell did experiments concerning the two color morphs, expecting to see the black form picked off by birds when resting on clean tree trunks with the normal form untouched, and vice-versa when the trunks were blackened.  Bats were not considered as a factor due to hunting the moths in flight with sonar, and not by sight.  He concluded that ''"industrial melanism in moths is the most striking evolutionary phenomenon ever actually witnessed in any organism, animal or plant"''<ref>http://www.nature.com/hdy/journal/v9/n3/abs/hdy195536a.html</ref>

Several scientists pointed out that the case of the peppered moth points out to natural selection, and not evolution, yet there are still many who tout it as proof of evolution.  Overlooked and ignored in Kettlewell's experiments - and seemingly repeated by later researchers - was that some of the experiments were staged.  To prove his theory that birds actively predated on the moths by color, Kettlewell needed to have the moths rest on the tree trunks during the day; the moths, however, rest normally in unexposed positions higher up in the tree, such as underneath leaves and branches where there is dark shade.  To get them on the trunks, Kettlewell had taken dead moths and either glued or pinned them on.  In his paper Michael Majerus also stated there were errors in the experiment, but still called for the subject to be taught in schools<ref>http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12052-008-0107-y</ref>, despite observed evidence that the peppered moth very rarely rests during the daytime on tree trunks, the primary reason for the theory in the first place<ref>http://creation.com/the-moth-files</ref><ref>http://www.talkreason.org/articles/icon.cfm</ref>.

Several scientists pointed out that the case of the peppered moth points out to natural selection, and not evolution, yet there are still many who tout it as proof of evolution.  Overlooked and ignored in Kettlewell's experiments - and seemingly repeated by later researchers - was that some of the experiments were staged.  To prove his theory that birds actively predated on the moths by color, Kettlewell needed to have the moths rest on the tree trunks during the day; the moths, however, rest normally in unexposed positions higher up in the tree, such as underneath leaves and branches where there is dark shade.  To get them on the trunks, Kettlewell had taken dead moths and either glued or pinned them on.  In his paper Michael Majerus also stated there were errors in the experiment, but still called for the subject to be taught in schools,<ref>http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12052-008-0107-y</ref> despite observed evidence that the peppered moth very rarely rests during the daytime on tree trunks, the primary reason for the theory in the first place.<ref>http://creation.com/the-moth-files</ref><ref>http://www.talkreason.org/articles/icon.cfm</ref>

== External links ==

== External links ==

==References==

==References==

[[Category:Insects]]

[[Category:Insects]]