This is a bone of contention among some biologists, Some say that the individual organism is the smallest unit upon which natural selection directly acts and some say it is the gene.
I would check your textbook to see which way this wind blows, but most texts I have seen, or used, generally, say that the individual organism, or the individuals organism's phenotype is that which natural selection acts directly on. Of course, texts are conservative in their outlook.
Something funny here about attribution of answer, so I write this to get this answer under my user name.
This process is called natural selection. It is the mechanism by which traits that provide a survival or reproductive advantage to an organism become more common in a population over time.
Natural selection can only work on genetic variation that already exists. So mutation comes first, then natural selection.
It hasn't. Natural selection is a key part of the ecosystem itself.
Natural selection is the mechanism primarily responsible for the development of today's biodiversity.
No, natural selection works on that genetic variation presented to it.
individual
The unit of evolution depends on the level at which genetic variation is passed on to the next generation. This can occur at the level of individuals, populations, or species. The unit of selection is the entity on which natural selection acts to drive evolutionary change.
Its NaTuRaL sElEcTiOn if you didn't know.
Adaptation does not allow for natural selection: natural selection causes adaptation.
The prefix of natural selection is "natural" and the suffix is "-tion".
Genetic variation in itself does not 'support' natural selection: it is what natural selection acts upon.
Natural Selection
Natural selection.
That selection was natural.
Natural selection is what causes adaptation.
No, natural selection is the mechanism that drivesevolution.
Natural selection