Before 1800, most peppered moths in England were light-colored. During the Industrial Revolution, soot and industrial wastes darkened tree trunks. Gradually, the light-colored moths became rare, and the dark-colored ones became abundant. What role did natural selection play?

ANatural selection created the variation in the population, and then acted accordingly.

BNatural selection acted on the variation that was present in the population.

CNatural selection acted indiscriminately on both color variations.