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Multiple Choice
How can an individual organism with a competitive advantage contribute to the evolution of an entire species?
A
By ensuring that all individuals in the species acquire the same advantage through learning.
B
By causing immediate changes in the environment that force the entire species to adapt instantly.
C
By directly changing the genetic makeup of all other individuals in the species through interaction.
D
By surviving and reproducing more successfully, passing advantageous traits to offspring, which increases the frequency of those traits in the population over generations.
Verified step by step guidance
1
Step 1: Understand the concept of natural selection, which is a key mechanism of evolution. It explains how individuals with advantageous traits are more likely to survive and reproduce, passing those traits to their offspring.
Step 2: Recognize that traits providing a competitive advantage are often genetic and heritable. These traits increase the organism's fitness, meaning its ability to survive and reproduce in a given environment.
Step 3: Learn that over generations, the frequency of advantageous traits increases in the population. This is because individuals with these traits are more likely to contribute to the gene pool of the next generation.
Step 4: Understand that evolution occurs at the population level, not the individual level. While an individual organism cannot directly change the genetic makeup of others, its success in reproduction influences the genetic composition of the population over time.
Step 5: Note that environmental pressures play a role in determining which traits are advantageous. As the environment changes, different traits may become beneficial, driving the ongoing process of evolution.