Which evolutionary concept suggests that individuals with certain traits are more likely to survive and reproduce?

The concept that individuals with certain traits are more likely to survive and reproduce is known as natural selection. This mechanism of evolution was first articulated by Charles Darwin and is foundational to the understanding of how species adapt to their environments over time.

Natural selection operates on the premise that individuals within a population exhibit variation in their traits, such as physical characteristics, behaviors, and physiological features. These variations often provide certain individuals with advantages or disadvantages in terms of survival and reproduction in a given environment. For example, in a habitat where long necks enable better access to food in tall trees, individuals with longer necks might survive and reproduce more successfully than those with shorter necks. Over generations, these advantageous traits become more common within the population, leading to evolutionary changes.

In contrast, genetic drift refers to random changes in trait frequencies within a population, particularly in small populations, while gene flow involves the transfer of genetic material between populations, influencing their genetic diversity. Phenotypic plasticity is the ability of an organism to change its phenotype in response to environmental changes, but it does not inherently imply a selection process that leads to differential survival and reproduction based on trait advantages. Thus, the features of natural selection are specifically focused on the interplay between inherited traits and the environment,