natural selection

Meanings

1. 1noununcountablebiology

   The process in which living things with traits that help them cope with their surroundings are more likely to survive and have offspring, so those traits become more common.

   Grammar: Has no plural and normally no article: evolution by natural selection.

   Patterns

   • evolution by natural selection
   • natural selection acts on something

   Darwin explained evolution through natural selection.

   Natural selection favored moths that blended in with the dark bark.

   Over many generations, natural selection can change the size of a bird's beak.

2. 2noununcountablefigurative

   Used loosely for any situation in which the strongest or best adapted people, ideas or businesses tend to last while others fail.

   Grammar: A figurative, informal use outside biology.

   Patterns

   • a kind of natural selection

   In the tech market, natural selection removes weak companies quickly.

   The long hike was a kind of natural selection among the volunteers.

Common combinations

evolution by natural selection

Evolution by natural selection explains how species change.

driven by natural selection

The change was driven by natural selection.

theory of natural selection

Students learn the theory of natural selection in biology.

natural selection favors

Natural selection favors animals with better camouflage.

act through natural selection

Resistance can spread through natural selection among bacteria.

Synonyms and how they differ

survival of the fittest

Survival of the fittest is a popular summary phrase, whereas natural selection is the precise scientific term.

evolution

Evolution is the overall change in species over time, while natural selection is one main way it happens.

adaptation

An adaptation is a trait that helps survival, whereas natural selection is the process that spreads such traits.

selective pressure

Selective pressure is a factor, such as a predator, that drives natural selection.

Opposites

Word family

natural adjective

existing in nature, not made by people

select verb

to choose carefully

selective adjective

choosing carefully, or affecting only certain things

selection noun

the act of choosing, or things chosen

naturalist noun

a person who studies plants and animals

Commonly confused: natural selection or artificial selection? natural selection or evolution?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “natural selection”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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