Which statement best defines natural selection?

Which statement best defines natural selection?

• A. More advantageous traits in a particular environment allow individuals with those traits to have more offspring; as a result their heritable traits become more common in succeeding generations of the population
• B. Random changes in traits occur over time
• C. Traits are chosen by organisms in response to the environment
• D. Genes spontaneously arise to fit the environment

Answer: (A)

Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals based on heritable traits that fit a given environment. In a particular environment, those with advantageous traits tend to leave more offspring, and because those traits are heritable, their frequency increases in the population over generations. This captures how environmental conditions filter variation and accumulate advantageous traits over time. It’s not about random changes alone, nor about organisms choosing traits, and genes don’t spontaneously arise to fit the environment—variation exists and selection shifts which variants persist.

Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals based on heritable traits that fit a given environment. In a particular environment, those with advantageous traits tend to leave more offspring, and because those traits are heritable, their frequency increases in the population over generations. This captures how environmental conditions filter variation and accumulate advantageous traits over time. It’s not about random changes alone, nor about organisms choosing traits, and genes don’t spontaneously arise to fit the environment—variation exists and selection shifts which variants persist.