In Darwin’s publication, his theory of evolution was supported by the mechanism of natural selection. For natural selection to be at work on a species, there must be a variation within the population. The variation within the population has to be heritable. The variation will cause many different individuals within the population and thus the struggle for existence begins, and the strongest will be on top that are able to withstand the pressures of the environment. The individuals that can withstand the pressures will have a better survival rate and will be able to reproduce. Natural selection does not create any variation, it only works on the existing variation in the population. Natural selection is not progressive, and does not strive for perfection. The thing about natural selection that separates it from evolution is that natural selection works on the phenotype of individuals while evolution works on the genotype
In Darwin’s publication, his theory of evolution was supported by the mechanism of natural selection. For natural selection to be at work on a species, there must be a variation within the population. The variation within the population has to be heritable. The variation will cause many different individuals within the population and thus the struggle for existence begins, and the strongest will be on top that are able to withstand the pressures of the environment. The individuals that can withstand the pressures will have a better survival rate and will be able to reproduce. Natural selection does not create any variation, it only works on the existing variation in the population. Natural selection is not progressive, and does not strive for perfection. The thing about natural selection that separates it from evolution is that natural selection works on the phenotype of individuals while evolution works on the genotype