Topic > What is natural selection? - 1517

Natural selection is the process through which random modifications (mutations), linked to the survival possibilities of a distinct individual by adapting to its environment (food, predators, environmental characteristics), are selected by nature in total logical way way (lesson). Basically, natural selection works like this: individuals in a community with the most advantageous characteristics in terms of survival and reproduction rate will pass on these intrinsic genetic traits to their offspring (Futuyma, 2004). Over time, these traits will become more frequent in the genetic base of future generations, and eventually all living species within a population will acquire those characteristics (lesson). There are three preconditions for natural selection to exist (lesson). The first is variation. It simply means that there will be changes in DNA and those changes are the reason we vary in a population. The second is differential reproductive success. This condition suggests that some individuals have more offspring than others and generally has to do with competition between species. The third is heredity which holds that we have inherited the genetic basis of our creators, half of each parent. In short, natural selection is generally associated with the ability of species to adapt to their environment and occurs only through three primordial preconditions: variation, differential reproduction and