AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -In order for natural selection to operate on a trait, the trait must possess heritable variation and must confer an advantage in the competition for resources. If one of these requirements does not occur, then the trait does not experience natural selection.

Detailed explanation-2: -Natural selection requires variation in a population of organisms. For the process to work, at least some of that variation must be heritable and passed on to organisms’ descendants in some way.

Detailed explanation-3: -Genetic variations that alter gene activity or protein function can introduce different traits in an organism. If a trait is advantageous and helps the individual survive and reproduce, the genetic variation is more likely to be passed to the next generation (a process known as natural selection).

Detailed explanation-4: -Four conditions are needed for natural selection to occur: reproduction, heredity, variation in fitness or organisms, variation in individual characters among members of the population. If they are met, natural selection automatically results.

Detailed explanation-5: -Darwin and other scientists of his day argued that a process much like artificial selection happened in nature, without any human intervention. He argued that natural selection explained how a wide variety of life forms developed over time from a single common ancestor.