Natural Selection: A Case Study

In The Origin of Species, Darwin calls the process of natural selection or survival of the fittest, the preservation of favorable individual differences and variations, and the destruction of those, which are injurious (Darwin, 1901). Darwin’s theory of evolutionary change and process of natural selection surmises that variations exist in every

Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection, a scientific theory that supported the belief of evolution, was manipulated and applied to different areas of life, and thus it became the shaping force in European thought in the last half of the nineteenth century. Darwin, through observation of organisms, determined that a system of natural selection controlled the evolution of species. He found that the organisms that were most fit and assimilated to the environment would survive. They would also reproduce so that over time they would eventually dominate in numbers over the organisms with weaker characteristics. This new theory was radical and interesting to the scientific world but its effects reach far beyond this small institution of

Many people are familiar with the words natural selection, an idea that was popularized by Darwin in the 19th century; to simply define it, natural selection is nature’s editing mechanism that results in the favoring of some individuals over others when exposed to certain environmental factors. Artificial selection parallels the process of natural selection but with an added twist: the involvement of human beings. Artificial selection is “a process in which humans consciously select for or against particular features in organisms” allowing “only organisms with the desired feature to reproduce or may provide more resources to the organisms with the desired feature” (Artificial Selection, n.d.).

Evolutionary biology has always interested me, specifically the mechanisms of natural selection and how species adapt to their environment. It started with my love for animals and nature when I was little. I spent my summers working with horses at a local corral, where I would ride around the surrounding wilderness areas. My favorite part about riding in the mountains was watching the change in plant and animal species as the elevation changed. It never ceased to amaze me how the alpine tree line was always so sudden. Humongous pine trees would give way to the short, shrubby plants of the alpine tundra so uniformly and noticeably. I have always wondered about the environmental conditions that cause species to distribute themselves in

Selection is the functional relationship between phenotypes and fitness. Natural selection is the production of organisms according to their physical attributes whereby off springs of the younger generations takes the strong, desired and inheritable aspects of their parents. They become more adapted to the environment although some does well than others according to their individual traits which are attributed to their phenotypes (Sinervo, 1997). According to Charles Darwin, fitness can be described in three different forms of selection which interferes with the mean of phenotypic traits in a population. They include: directional selection; stabilizing selection; and destructive selection.

“If no such variations exist, the population rapidly goes extinct because it cannot adapt to a changing environment” (O’Neil, 1998-2013). Scientists call this reproductive success. “Within a specific environment context, one genotype will be better than another genotype in survival or reproduction for certain reasons having to do with the way its particular features relate to the environment or relate to other organisms within the population” (Futuyma, 2000-2014). The theory of evolution is explicable through various kinds of scientific research.

In topic 1, the introduction to human uniqueness and social coercion theory, we are introduced to some of the common misinterpretation behind Charles’ Darwin’s theory of evolution, specifically in regards to natural selection and survival of the fittest. One of the biggest contributors to this issue is the lack of exposure to the general public on the overall theory behind these two processes. Instead of a full detailed explanation about natural selection and survival of the fittest, we are just told that it is slow and that to be fit means a level of superiority among competition, respectively. Topic 1 revealed that this is not true, as well as stating that natural selection is about individual risk, benefit and cost is of the utmost importance(Bingham). Based on this newly found insight from the course, how does individual risk, benefit, and cost play such an important role in natural selection even though selection is seen in a population and not a

Evolution by artificial selection and natural selection have in common that they both favor certain traits over others. Moreover, they select on traits that are heritable, but they differ in the way traits are selected. Natural selection favors multiple ways to improve an individual’s fitness while in artificial selection, humans decide which traits they want to have in the next generation, which actually reduce the individual’s fitness.

Charles Darwin created the theory of Darwinism, also known as, survival of the fittest. As an example of Darwinism, there are 10 white moths and 10 black moths in a forest. This said forest is full of white oak trees. The white moths are more adapted to their surroundings because of the colors; they can blend in. This helps them hide from predators like birds, and continue natural reproduction to keep the white moth population stable. All the while, the black moths will have a harder time hiding while looking for food or living in general. Predators will easily find the black moths, stopping them from reproducing. The ratio of black to white moth population, is much in favor of the white moths.

Competition for resources such as food or water must be a factor as well. In any population of organisms, there are distinct differences which leads to survival differences such as giraffes and neck length which will be passed on to their offspring (I.e. differential reproductive success). The giraffe’s with longer necks have advantages in survival. Charles Darwin started explaining natural selection with artificial selection. Humans have created crops and breeds of animals over time (e.g. humans have created dog breeds by selecting traits and disposing traits).

Charles Darwin’s concept of natural selection was concluded by many ideas, experiments, and observations. One of Darwin’s observations regarding natural selection includes the idea that

In this lab, we explore the reason genetic changes happened within a population. We use bean-bag model to simulate allele and genotype frequencies for three generations of deer mice under three different selective regimes. Then, we use the Hardy-Weinberg Principle to assess the selection and evolution experienced by deer mice. The Hardy-Weinberg Principle is one of the most important principles in population genetic. G.H. Hardy and W. Weinberg discover it in 1908 independently. Hardy-Weinberg principle states that In a population that is not evolving, allele and genotype frequencies will remain constant from

Many scientists believe variations are caused by environmental factors, such as food availability, weather and more; and that species evolve when environmental conditions change to increase the species survival. Darwin censures this idea; he believed that the main cause of variation is due to reproduction (Chapter I). Darwin suggested that parents pass down specific characteristics to their offspring, and those variations are continued on in the following generations. The problem with Darwin’s theory of reproduction is that Darwin did not comprehend how or why some characteristics are perennial and how others are not. Darwin’s inferences on variations also conflict with the idea that God created species independently, which was widely understood by many people in a time where religion was prominent (Chapter II).

Among animals, evolution is the unstoppable natural course of progression through changing environmental pressures and time. For much of human history, man has been applying Darwin’s ideas of selection, choosing among stalks of plants and phenotypes of animals and selecting the best for the next generation. However, with the conception of On the Origin of Species in 1859, notions of natural selection, survival of the fittest, and evolution took on an entirely new interpretation in society. In fact, Darwin's On the Origin of Species is one of the most influential works in the history of human ideas, with its significance reaching far beyond natural science; it entirely altered the way that human beings view the world and themselves. Suddenly,

Due to the competition for resources among all species on Earth, Darwin realized that there is a limit to all population expansion; a metaphorical roof is placed over their spread. These competitions are won by the strongest members of the population, and not by the disease-riddled weak of a species. The strong that survive are able to reproduce, systematically engineering the next generation for success. Also, if there is any trait or mutation that allows for an individual to succeed, that trait is passed on, which over the course of millions of years can turn a light sensory organ into a human eye. This process of finding the strongest mate is Natural Selection.