What is natural selection?

What is natural selection?

• A. The random changes in a population.
• B. The process by which better-adapted organisms survive and reproduce more.
• C. The movement of organisms to new habitats.
• D. The inheritance of acquired traits.

Answer: (B)

Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals based on heritable traits that fit their environment. Those with advantageous traits are more likely to survive and leave offspring, so those traits become more common in the population over generations, leading to adaptation. Remember that natural selection acts on traits that are inherited; learned or acquired changes during life aren’t passed down to offspring, so they don’t drive the process. It’s not about random changes alone, and it isn’t about organisms moving to new habitats. The description that better-adapted organisms survive and reproduce more accurately captures how natural selection works.

Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals based on heritable traits that fit their environment. Those with advantageous traits are more likely to survive and leave offspring, so those traits become more common in the population over generations, leading to adaptation. Remember that natural selection acts on traits that are inherited; learned or acquired changes during life aren’t passed down to offspring, so they don’t drive the process. It’s not about random changes alone, and it isn’t about organisms moving to new habitats. The description that better-adapted organisms survive and reproduce more accurately captures how natural selection works.