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The answer below is partly right, but natural selection actually does not act on an individual. As stated below, individuals within a population of a given species are selected based on physical trains which benefit, but not for the survival of the animal itself. It is important to note that in Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection, environmental change does not create new alleles but rather select from the gene pool of a population that has the allele which would benifit in a given condition. Thus, natural selection act on a population and its gene pool rather than the individuals.

Yes. According to Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection, individuals within a population of a given species are "selected" based on physical traits which benefit the survival of the animal. However, they are only "selected" thanks to the individuals that die, because they are not physically suited for survival as well as the others. Natural selection acts directly only on those to die, because it is technically the only physical "act" or determining factor that demonstrates Darwin's theory. All the rest simply has to do with the animals left over, which simply breed as usual inevitably creating better and better animals, while natural selection picks off all those that are not quite good enough.

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12y ago
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12y ago

No, only in the progeny of the individual selected. An individual who is reproductively favored by have a genetic variation that is favorable, in the germ line, will leave this variation to his progeny and the frequency of alleles will change in the populations gene pool, thus causing evolution of the population.

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12y ago

No, they already have, or have not, the variation to be selected. It is the populations that change when the selected individuals " promote " their genes into the next generation and change the allele frequency of the populations gene pool. Remember, populations evolve, individuals are selected.

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11y ago

NO. Natural selection never operates on an individual. Populations evolve over many generations due to selective pressures, not individuals.

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9y ago

the unequal ability of individuals to survive and reproduce (studyisland answer)

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10y ago

Natural selection works on INDIVIDUALS. Populations evolve.

By the way, no list.

the unequal ability of individuals to survive and reproduce

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14y ago

No, the smallest unit that can evolve through natural selection is the population.

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8y ago

Yes, it does.

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Q: Does natural selection operate only on an individual over many generations?
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Continue Learning about Biology

Does selection operate on the genotype or the phenotype?

Natural selection operates on the phenotype.


Does natural selection operate on today's society?

i believe that it does because as life goes on more and more of the weak are dying out nd soon only the strong will survive


How does mutation and natural selection operate together in the process of evolution?

Under natural selection, not all genes are successful, but those which are will progress to the next stage of selection. Mutations introduce new genetic information to an organism's genetic code, providing more genotypes to create more phenotypes, which can be acted on and potentially more suitable ones to be selected.


How did geological gradualism and uniformitarianism influence Darwin?

Darwin's mechanism for evolution was natural selection through gradual change in the genome in response to factors pressuring from the environment. Geological gradualism, the thought that large changes are an accumulation of smaller changes over time and uniformitarianism, the idea that geologic processes have remained constant over many many years, gave Darwin a geologic time frame in which his mechanism of natural selection could operate. The small genetic variations and mutations that accumulated in an organism to shape the drastic changes leading to the differentiation of new species needed constant environmental pressures over a long period of time. Gradualism and uniformitarianism allowed for both of these criteria and so influenced Darwin's theory of evolution by means of natural selection.


Do clusters of Gloeocapsa represent multicellular organisms?

No, the cells are not obligate dependents-they can operate independently; the protoplasms of thecells are not connected; the aggregation of cells can be broken into individual cells without killingthe cells.

Related questions

Is it possible for a population to undergo natural selection?

No, there is no genetic variation upon which natural selection can operate.


Does selection operate on the genotype or the phenotype?

Natural selection operates on the phenotype.


Is this true Natural selection cannot operate efficiently against rare recessive alleles?

True


Which of the five factors that can lead to evolution would operate on a change in body color that enabled animals to better hide from predators?

natural selection :")


Which of the five factors that can lead to evolution would operate on a chane in body color that enabled animals to better hide from predators?

Natural selection


Does natural selection operate on today's society?

i believe that it does because as life goes on more and more of the weak are dying out nd soon only the strong will survive


How does adaptation relate to natural selection?

Its a chicken and egg situation. Adaptation is the response to Natural Selection, and Natural Selection is the response to Adaptation. They both operate by the principle: the members of any species that are best adapted to their environment are the ones most likely to survive and reproduce the next generation, where the process repeats. That does not mean the strongest or most aggressive, they often get themselves killed off.


What was Darwin's theory of natural selection?

Darwin Theory of natural selection was proposed by Charles Darwin in 1858. Darwin believed all plants and animals had evolved from a few common ancestors by means of natural selection. Plants and animals produce many offspring, but some of the young die before they can become parents. According to Darwin's theory, natural selection determines which members of a species die prematurely and which ones survive and reproduce. All living things must compete for a limited supply of food, water, space, and other necessities. The individual plants and animals whose variations are best adapted to conditions have an advantage in this struggle. These organisms, on average, tend to leave a larger number of offspring than other members of their group. As a result, the proportion of the group sharing the traits of the best-adapted organisms increases from generation to generation. Scientists use the term fitness to refer to the ability of an organism to reproduce. For this reason, natural selection is often called the "survival of the fittest." For natural selection to operate, two biological conditions must be met. First, the individuals of a population must differ in their hereditary characteristics. Human beings, for example, vary in almost every aspect of their appearance, including height, weight, and eye colour. People also differ in less-obvious features, such as brain size, thickness of bones, and amount of fat in the blood. These differences have some genetic basis. The second requirement for natural selection is that some of the inherited differences must affect chances for survival and reproduction. When this occurs, the fittest individuals will pass on more copies of their genes to future generations than will other individuals. Over time, a species accumulates genes that increase its ability to survive and reproduce in its environment. There are several types of natural selection. They include (1) directional selection, (2) stabilizing selection, and (3) sexual selection. Directional selection produces new features that help a species adapt to its environment. This type of selection is what most people think of as natural selection. Stabilizing selection occurs if a species is already well adapted to its environment. In such cases, the individuals with average characteristics leave the most offspring, and individuals that differ most from the average leave fewest. Unlike directional selection, stabilizing selection eliminates extreme characteristics, reducing the amount of variation in a population. Stabilizing selection may actually be the most common type of natural selection. Sexual selection occurs primarily among animals. Adults of many species prefer mates who display certain behaviors or have certain external features. Sexual selection explains, for example, why males of many bird species have more colorful feathers than the females.


What id genetic variation?

Genetic Variation is a measure of the genetic differences there are within populations or species. For example, a population with many different alleles at a locus may be said to have a lot of genetic variation at that locus. Genetic variation is essential for natural selection to operate since natural selection can only increase or decrease frequency of alleles already in the population


What did Charles Darwin say about variation within species?

Because there is variation within a species, it is therefore possible for the law of natural selection to operate, by selecting those variations which best enhance survival and reproduction.


How does mutation and natural selection operate together in the process of evolution?

Under natural selection, not all genes are successful, but those which are will progress to the next stage of selection. Mutations introduce new genetic information to an organism's genetic code, providing more genotypes to create more phenotypes, which can be acted on and potentially more suitable ones to be selected.


What is mentology?

Mentology is a theory and a set of practical methods aimed to operate with individual's mentality.