What is natural selection?

Natural selection is a key mechanism of evolution, describing how certain traits become more common in a population over generations. The process operates on the principle that individuals with advantageous traits are more likely to survive and reproduce in their environment. These beneficial traits can enhance an individual's ability to find food, evade predators, or adapt to changing conditions. As these individuals reproduce, they pass their advantageous traits to their offspring, thereby increasing the frequency of these traits in the population over time.

This process is not random; rather, it is a differential survival and reproduction based on the traits that give some individuals an edge in a given environment. The concept highlights the idea of "survival of the fittest," where "fittest" refers to those best suited to their surroundings, not necessarily the strongest or fastest.

The other options do not accurately capture the essence of natural selection. Creating new species is a broader concept that can involve mechanisms beyond natural selection, such as speciation events. A random process of reproductive success overlooks the selective pressures that influence which individuals survive and reproduce. Deliberate breeding relates to artificial selection, where humans select traits for breeding purposes, which is distinct from natural selection's focus on environmental pressures affecting survival and reproduction.