survival of the fittest

E401560

Survival of the fittest is an evolutionary concept describing how individuals best adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce, thereby shaping the traits of future generations.

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Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Darwinian concept
biological principle
evolutionary concept
natural selection metaphor
appliesTo evolutionary change over generations
populations of organisms
basedOn differential reproductive success
environmental pressures
variation in heritable traits
centralTo Darwinism
surface form: Darwinian evolution

modern evolutionary theory
clarifiedAs survival and reproduction of the fittest genotypes
clarifiedBy Charles Darwin as equivalent to natural selection
coinedBy Herbert Spencer
coinedIn 1864
contextualizedBy specific environmental conditions
contrastedWith artificial selection
criticizedFor being a potentially misleading phrase
dependsOn match between traits and environment
describes differential survival and reproduction of organisms
how better-adapted individuals are more likely to reproduce
how better-adapted individuals are more likely to survive
how traits become more common in a population over generations
doesNotMean only the physically strongest survive
firstAppearedIn The Principles of Biology
surface form: Principles of Biology
formalizedIn population genetics
means organisms with traits best suited to a given environment leave more offspring
misinterpretedAs justification for social inequality
support for Social Darwinism
oftenExplainedUsing examples of antibiotic resistance in bacteria
examples of camouflage and mimicry
examples of predator–prey interactions
popularizedBy Charles Darwin
relatedConcept inclusive fitness
kin selection
sexual selection
relatedTo adaptation
evolution by natural selection
fitness in evolutionary biology
natural selection
requires competition for limited resources
heritable variation
overproduction of offspring
resultsIn adaptation of populations to their environments
change in allele frequencies in a population
usedBy Charles Darwin in later editions of On the Origin of Species
usedIn evolutionary biology education
popular science discussions of evolution

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