Natural Selection Essay Examples

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An individual within a population with an advantageous trait is more likely to survive than the individual without that trait. This means the species without the advantageous trait have a higher chance of dying and will most likely reduce in number. If the trait is heritable, the individual with the trait will produce offspring with that trait and actively grow in number since the trait allows them to better survive in their environment. This is natural selection. Natural selection is the force behind evolution. It is the process where individuals with mutations or traits that allow the individual to adapt to its environment tend to survive and produce more offspring. Natural selection is a key process for evolution, the change of heritable …show more content…
Originally, the mice only had light brown fur that allowed them to blend in with their environment but after several volcanic eruptions that created jet black rocks across the mice’s ecosystem, mice with black fur started to increase in popularity. The natural selection process started when the mice with brown fur had trouble blending in with their black rocky environment so they became easy targets for predators. A mutation occurred that resulted in a mouse with black fur. The black fur on the mouse gave it an advantage since the trait allowed it to blend into its environment, making hard for predators to spot them. Since the mouse with black fur had an advantageous trait, it was more likely to survive than the light brown mice, thus increasing its reproduction rate. Since the black mouse survival and reproduction rate was higher than the brown mice, it became more common in the rock pocket mouse population. This is a perfect example of natural selection since the traits frequency changes over time. Also, it includes the 3 required characteristics of natural selection, variation, heritability, and selection. The first characteristic, variation, is present since some of the mice had light fur while some of the mice had black fur. The second characteristic, heritability, is present since the mice with dark fur often had offspring that had dark fur. The last characteristic, selection, is present since the mice with black fur were more successful at reproduction than the light fur mice since the dark mice were able to blend with their environment thus increasing their chance of survival and

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