Natural selection

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Natural selection is the mechanism that drives much of the evolution of life. Natural selection refers to the existence of genetic variation in a population that translates into phenotypic variation. Some of these variations will have a higher reproductive success than others under certain environmental pressures. This will increase the frequency of this genetic variation in the next generation. When the environmental pressures remain identical for a prolonged period of time this procedure of natural selection can drive a species into a specific adaptive road, which ultimately can lead to speciation or the formation of new adaptations.

Natural selection is sometimes referred to as 'survival of the fittest' although this is uncommon in modern scientific circles.