1 industrial melanism | Definition of industrial melanism
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industrial melanism

noun

Definition of industrial melanism

: genetically determined melanism as a population phenomenon especially in moths in which the proportion of dark individuals tends to increase due to differential predation especially by birds which more easily find and eat lighter-colored individuals in habitats darkened by industrial pollution

First Known Use of industrial melanism

1928, in the meaning defined above

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More from Merriam-Webster on industrial melanism

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about industrial melanism

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