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  1. Glossary
  2. /Biology
  3. /Natural Selection

What is Natural Selection?

In short

Natural selection is the process by which organisms with features better suited to their environment survive and reproduce more, so those features become more common over generations.

In simple words

Charles Darwin described it. There must be variation between individuals, some of it inherited. More offspring are produced than can survive, so there is a struggle for resources. Individuals with helpful variations are more likely to survive and pass them on. Over many generations, the population changes. It is not the individual that changes in its life; the population changes.

Example

Peppered moths in smoky towns were mostly dark, because dark moths on dark bark were less often eaten by birds. When the air became cleaner, pale moths became common again.

Also searched as: phet simulations natural selection.

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Related terms

  • DNA
  • Mitosis and Meiosis

← All glossary terms

Learn it in

  1. Origin of Life, Evidence and Darwin's TheoryClass 11 to 12
  2. Hardy-Weinberg, Selection, Drift and SpeciationClass 11 to 12
  3. Evolution Through Time and the Descent of HumansClass 11 to 12
All lessons on this topic →

Practise

  1. The tree of the lesson has four species…Medium
This problem goes beyond the NEET syllabus, but A-Level and IB ask it…Hard
  • Four species A, B, C and D have these differences in a gene: A and B 4; A and C 10; B…Hard
  • Use these NCERT dates: Homo erectus lived about 1500000 years ago…Hard
  • All problems on this topic →

    Quick questions

    1. Which statement about the Australopithecines is correct, by the NCERT account?Hard
    2. The brain capacity of Neanderthal man, about 1400 cc, is slightly larger than the usual…Hard
    3. A gene differs by 10 per cent between two species. In each line the gene changes by 1.25…Hard

    More Biology terms

    1. Algae
    2. Bacteria
    3. Binomial Nomenclature
    4. Cell
    5. Cellular Respiration
    6. Diffusion and Osmosis
    All Biology terms →

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