How Humans Turned a Sea Snake to the Dark Side
An Australian snake may have evolved all-black scales to cope with pollution.
The wings of the peppered moth are usually white with black speckles—a pattern that renders them invisible against the bark of a typical tree. But in the early 19th century, the trunks of English trees became jacketed in soot, which was belched forth from coal-fired factories. Against these trunks, the once-camouflaged moths shone out like beacons, making them easy prey for birds. But some lucky moths had mutations that gave them all-black wings. They successfully hid against the sooty trunks while their
