Which statement best summarizes the concept of natural selection?

• A. All individuals in a population have an equal chance of surviving and reproducing, so allele frequencies remain constant over time.
• B. Random environmental events, rather than differences in heritable traits, consistently determine which alleles become more common in a population.
• C. Individuals with heritable traits that increase survival or reproductive success tend to leave more offspring, causing those traits to become more common in the population over generations.
• D. Organisms evolve traits because they need them during their lifetime, and those acquired traits are then passed on to their offspring.

Answer: (C)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand that natural selection is a process where individuals with certain heritable traits have a higher chance of surviving and reproducing compared to others.
2. Recognize that these advantageous traits increase an individual's reproductive success, meaning they are more likely to pass these traits to the next generation.
3. Note that over many generations, the frequency of these beneficial traits increases in the population, leading to evolutionary change.
4. Distinguish natural selection from random events or the idea that all individuals have equal survival chances; natural selection is non-random and based on heritable traits.
5. Reject the misconception that traits acquired during an individual's lifetime are inherited; only genetic traits passed through reproduction affect natural selection.