Natural Selection

Essay by yankeefan4lifeHigh School, 10th gradeA, December 2006

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Natural selection affects the way organisms in an offspring reproduce. Natural selection is the reproduction of organisms that have adapted to their environment over many generations (Campbell, Mitchell, and Reece, 2000). The most adapted genes are passed on to offspring. Therefore, the most adapted organisms are most likely to survive and reproduce compared to the organisms that are not as adapted. Stabilizing selection is natural selection that favors intermediate phenotypes by going against extreme phenotypes. Directional selection is natural selection that acts against the individuals at one end of the phenotypic range. Diversifying selection is natural selection that favors extreme phenotypes over intermediate phenotypes. For natural selection to occur there are two requirements ("Evolution and Natural Selection", 2005). The first requirement is that there must be an inheritable variation for a specific trait. The second requirement is that there must be differential survival and reproduction associated with that specific trait.

If these two requirements are not reached then natural selection will not happen.

Many organisms are camouflaged to their environment. Camouflaged organisms blend in with their environment and are less likely to be hunted by predators ("Camouflage". 2006). Camouflage is used to trick the predator that there is not prey around. The predator is tricked because the prey blends with the environment and looks like its surroundings. Predators use camouflage to sneak up on prey. When blending in with the environment a predator would not be seen by the prey and therefore be able to sneak up on the prey and attack it. One rare form of camouflage is that a few types of animals are actually able to change color as the environment changes. These types of animals survive the most compared to ones who cannot change color.

Predators often rely on prey to survive (Marland, 2006). For the...