Unit 7 · 7.2 — Natural Selection [cite: 28, 44]

Everything to learn here

• Concept: As environmental landscapes fluctuate, completely different selective pressures arise, shifting which specific phenotypes hold a survival and adaptive advantage [cite: 21, 45].
• Concept: Variation in exact molecular numbers and chemical types within cells directly and profoundly influences the overall evolutionary fitness of the organism in its specific environment [cite: 21, 28, 29].
• Vocabulary: Adaptation — a heavily favored, heritable trait that directly enhances an organism's survival and reproductive output in a specific, localized environment [cite: 13].
• Concept: Reproductive success measures evolutionary fitness, which is influenced by how shifting environmental factors select for specific genetic variations.
• Concept: Diverse cellular molecules provide populations with a greater capacity to adapt and survive in varying environmental conditions.
• Skill: Use visual models to describe how fluctuating environmental factors impact the rate and direction of a population's evolution.
• Concept: Variation in the types and quantities of molecules within cells helps populations survive in diverse ecological settings.

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