1946: The role of natural selection in distribution and dynamics of
melanism in common hamster (Cricetus cricetus L.).
Melanism in endangered Mohave tui chub Siphateles bicolor mohavensis Snyder, 1918 (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae).
Industrial and non-industrial
melanism in the peppered moth Biston betularia (L.).
The back-wingtip score was doubled because plumage
melanism is considered the best way to visually distinguish hybrids from pure birds (Bell 1996).
Sargent (1985) suggested that some melanic moths may be adapted to exploit white backgrounds that are variegated with black, rather than the uniformly dark backgrounds suggested by the traditional explanation of industrial
melanism (Kettlewell 1958a).
She also considers the reasons 20th century race researchers placed Asians at the summit of the intelligence racial hierarchy, describes the equally pseudoscientific (if far less celebrated) response of "
melanism" researchers who ascribe superior qualities to those with greater melanin, and presents a new way of thinking about intelligence that holistically includes those qualities that race and intelligence researchers tend to ignore.
Ecology becomes central in the second and longest chapter, "A Green Machine," in which a cryptic discussion of the concept of an ecosystem precedes a treatment of standard ecological topics, including adaptation, industrial
melanism, the Galapagos finches, niches, and food webs.
Insect
melanism has long been a case study in evolutionary biology, providing some of the most conspicuous examples of natural selection (Kettlewell, 1973), genetic regulation (Wittkopp et al., 2002b) and pleiotropic effects (Wittkopp & Beldade, 2009).
This single supergene also appears important in
melanism in other species, including moths.
Thus, while thermal
melanism may be important for warming the body in some terrestrial organisms (King-solver, 1996; Clusella-Trullas et al, 2007), the importance to gastropods in intertidal systems is less clear.
The
melanism of the human prototype is certainly not happenchance.
Insularity and the evolution of
melanism, sexual dichromaticsm and body size in the worldwide-distributed barn owl.
