Natural selection acts most directly on which of the following?

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Multiple Choice

Natural selection acts most directly on which of the following?

Explanation:
Natural selection acts most directly on the variation that exists among individuals in a population. The environment differentially favors certain traits, so individuals with those traits leave more offspring. Over generations, the alleles linked to favored traits increase in frequency, shifting the population’s traits on average. The traits that matter for selection must be heritable; acquired changes during life aren’t passed to offspring, so they don’t drive evolutionary change. Random changes in population size reflect genetic drift, not the mechanism of natural selection.

Natural selection acts most directly on the variation that exists among individuals in a population. The environment differentially favors certain traits, so individuals with those traits leave more offspring. Over generations, the alleles linked to favored traits increase in frequency, shifting the population’s traits on average. The traits that matter for selection must be heritable; acquired changes during life aren’t passed to offspring, so they don’t drive evolutionary change. Random changes in population size reflect genetic drift, not the mechanism of natural selection.

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