Natural selection results in change over time by acting on traits that are:

• A. unrelated to the environment
• B. identical in all individuals of a population
• C. heritable and affect reproductive success
• D. acquired during an organism's lifetime

Answer: (C)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand the concept of natural selection: Natural selection is a process where individuals with traits that provide a survival or reproductive advantage are more likely to pass on those traits to the next generation. Over time, this leads to changes in the population's traits.
2. Identify the key requirements for natural selection to occur: Traits must be heritable (passed from parent to offspring through genetic material) and must influence an organism's ability to survive and reproduce in its environment.
3. Eliminate incorrect options: Traits that are unrelated to the environment or identical in all individuals of a population cannot be acted upon by natural selection because they do not provide variation or an advantage. Similarly, traits acquired during an organism's lifetime (e.g., learned behaviors or physical changes due to environment) are not heritable and cannot be passed to offspring.
4. Focus on the correct criteria: Traits that are heritable and affect reproductive success are the ones that natural selection acts upon. These traits increase an organism's fitness, which is its ability to survive and reproduce.
5. Conclude that natural selection results in change over time by favoring heritable traits that improve reproductive success, leading to their increased frequency in the population over generations.