What is natural selection?

Natural selection is defined as the process where organisms that are better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring. This mechanism is central to the theory of evolution and highlights the role of environmental pressures in shaping the traits of populations over time.

In this process, individuals with advantageous traits that enhance their survival and reproductive success are more likely to pass those traits on to the next generation. Over successive generations, these advantageous traits become more common within the population, while less advantageous traits may diminish, leading to evolutionary change.

This concept also underscores the importance of variation within a species, as only through genetic diversity can natural selection operate effectively. The traits that confer an advantage may change as environmental conditions shift, which further illustrates the dynamic nature of this evolutionary mechanism.

Overall, option B encapsulates the essence of natural selection, illustrating how adaptation and reproductive success are fundamental to the evolutionary process.