Which description best captures the idea of natural selection?

Which description best captures the idea of natural selection?

• A. Traits acquired during one’s lifetime become genetic in offspring
• B. Species improve themselves through conscious choice
• C. All members of a population become equally fit
• D. Individuals with favorable heritable traits tend to leave more offspring

Answer: (D)

Natural selection is the idea that individuals with traits that help them survive and reproduce in a given environment leave more offspring. Those advantageous traits are inherited, so they become more common in the population over generations. Traits acquired during a lifetime aren’t usually passed on genetically, so you can’t gain a trait through experience or effort and expect your offspring to have it. There’s no conscious choosing involved; it’s the environment acting on existing variation that filters who reproduces more. Over time, the population shifts to be better suited to its surroundings as those successful traits become more common. For example, if darker coloration helps individuals avoid predators in a smoky habitat, they leave more offspring, and darker traits spread through the population.

Natural selection is the idea that individuals with traits that help them survive and reproduce in a given environment leave more offspring. Those advantageous traits are inherited, so they become more common in the population over generations. Traits acquired during a lifetime aren’t usually passed on genetically, so you can’t gain a trait through experience or effort and expect your offspring to have it. There’s no conscious choosing involved; it’s the environment acting on existing variation that filters who reproduces more. Over time, the population shifts to be better suited to its surroundings as those successful traits become more common. For example, if darker coloration helps individuals avoid predators in a smoky habitat, they leave more offspring, and darker traits spread through the population.