The directional selection is a type of Darwinian selection where a particular phenotype is favored in the population, thereby modifying the allelic frequencies to increase the proportion of the favored phenotype. <em>Biston betularia</em>, also known as peppered moth, is a species that was influenced by directional selection in its recent past. Before the industrial revolution, the frequency of light-colored moths was predominant compared to the darker-colored phenotypes, because this color has higher adaptive fitness in a clean, no pollution environment, thereby light-colored moths were able to avoid predatory birds. However, during the industrial revolution, the frequency of dark-colored moths increased in response to pollution (i.e. darker environment), thereby conferring a higher adaptive fitness to darker phenotypes.
