Question

Give a tabular representation of the principle of natural selection

Answer 1

Natural Selection:

1. The theory of natural selection was given by Charles Darwin in 1893, based on his data collected on the Galapagos island, South Africa.
2. He also published his findings in his book, “The Origin of species' '.
3. According to the theory, organisms produce a large number of offspring for the survival of the species.
4. They compete with the organisms of the same as well as with the other species for their survival.
5. The ones who have favourable variations will survive, and others get extinct, Darvin called it survival of the fittest.
6. It is nature which decides the survival of the fittest who can be well-adapted to the environment.
7. Therefore, the theory is termed natural selection.
8. The continued variations for adaptation and survival ultimately lead to the birth of entirely new species.
9. Hence, continued natural selection will lead to the origin of new species.

Assumptions:

The theory of natural selection was a remarkable study by Darwin, but it was based on some assumptions. Those assumptions are as follows:

1. He assumed that species overproduce their offspring.
2. He didn’t include the parameter of the varying population over time. Instead, he assumed the competing population to be relatively stable over time.
3. He further assumed that survival resources such as food, water, and shelters are limited.

Basic Principles:

Principle	Example
Variation: Individuals in a population have some differences in their features, appearances, and capabilities among each other.	People in the crowd are different.
Heritability: Despite having the same parents, offspring show variations among each other. Therefore, variations can be inherited from parents.	Tall plants will have tall offspring, while shorter parents have short offspring plants.
Overproduction: According to Darvin’s theory, organisms produce offspring in large amounts for the survival of the species.	A housefly lays thousands of eggs.
Reproductive Advantage: Variations with increased reproductive success will be higher in the coming generations.	The next generation of pigeons will have more fan-shaped tails if the reproduction success of parent species with this variation increases.