Everything about Natural selection
Mechanism of evolution by differential reproduction
Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in the relative fitness endowed on them by their own particular complement of observable characteristics. It is a key law or mechanism of evolution which changes the heritable traits characteristic of a population or species over generations. Charles Darwin popularised the term "natural selection", contrasting it with artificial selection, which is intentional, whereas natural selection is not. Wikipedia →
🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path
- Read the overview: Natural selectionA 5-minute orientation
- Skim a recent paper: Phytoremediation: Mechanisms, plant selection and enhancement by natural and synthetic agentsInfluential work since 2022
- Pick up a classic book: On the origin of species by means of natural selectionThe most-reprinted book on the subject
- Read the landmark paper: Natural language and natural selectionCited 1,330 times
- Go sideways: EvolutionA closely related topic
- Go sideways: Introduction to evolutionA closely related topic
📖 Definitions
Noun A process by which heritable traits conferring survival and reproductive advantage to individuals, or related individuals, tend to be passed on to succeeding generations and become more frequent in a population, whereas other less favourable traits tend to become eliminated; the differential survival and reproduction of phenotypes.
Noun A process by which poor individual choices or attributes naturally, or rightfully, lead to poor outcomes, especially death.
🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)
Natural language and natural selection
Natural process – Natural selection
Scaffolding Natural Selection
Natural Disaster and Natural Selection
A natural selection
Natural selection bias?
Natural Selection
Molecular Selection and Natural Selection
🆕 Influential since 2022
Phytoremediation: Mechanisms, plant selection and enhancement by natural and synthetic agents
Mutation bias reflects natural selection in Arabidopsis thaliana
How does urbanization affect natural selection?
Biology in the 21st century: Natural selection is cognitive selection
Natural Induction: Spontaneous Adaptive Organisation without Natural Selection
📚 Books worth reading
On the origin of species by means of natural selectionCharles Darwin · 1859
The descent of manCharles Darwin · 1871
The descent of man, and selection in relation to sexCharles Darwin · 1870
Luck or cunning?Samuel Butler, Samuel Butler · 1886
The Selfish GeneRichard Dawkins · 1976
The Blind WatchmakerRichard Dawkins · 1986
On the Origin of SpeciesCharles Darwin · 2013
Darwin and after DarwinGeorge John Romanes · 1892
Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.
🔗 Related topics
- Evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It happens when individuals in a population…
- Introduction to evolution In biology, evolution is the process of change in all forms of life over generations, and evolutionary biology is the study of how evolution occurs. Biological…
- Population genetics Population genetics is a subfield of genetics that deals with genetic differences within and among populations, and is a part of evolutionary biology.…
- Neutral mutation Neutral mutations are changes in DNA sequence that are neither beneficial nor detrimental to the ability of an organism to survive and reproduce. In population…
- Genetic drift Genetic drift is the change in the frequency of an existing allele in a population due to chance. Genetic drift may cause alleles to disappear completely…
- Genetic variation Genetic variation is the difference in DNA among individuals or the differences between populations among the same species. The multiple sources of genetic…
- Modern synthesis (20th century) The modern synthesis was the early 20th-century synthesis of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and Gregor Mendel's ideas on heredity into a joint mathematica…
- Adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment…