In three to five sentences, construct an argument for the claim that natural selection leads to evolution. Provide evidence for this claim, and be sure to explain how an organism shows the four parts of the process of natural selection. You may use any organism with the exception of bacteria and antibiotic resistance

Answer 1

Natural selection is the process by which organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and reproduce more successfully than those less adapted, leading to evolutionary change. This is evidenced by the finches of the Galapagos Islands, where different beak sizes evolved in response to varying food sources.

First, there is variation within a population, such as the finches having different beak sizes. Second, there is competition for limited resources, as only those finches with beak sizes suited to the available food will survive and reproduce. Third, those individuals with advantageous traits, like larger beaks for cracking seeds, will have more offspring that inherit those traits.

Lastly, over time, the population will more closely resemble the individuals with the advantageous traits, leading to evolution. This process demonstrates how natural selection drives evolutionary change in organisms.