rganisms with _____ will be more likely to survive and reproduce when their environment presents challenges.

Question

rganisms with _____ will be more likely to survive and reproduce when their environment presents challenges.

existing beneficial mutations

the ability to adapt their genotype

the ability to produce beneficial mutations

All the answer choices are correct.

Answer 1

There are four key components to natural selection: 1. There are more offspring born than can survive. 2. There is inheritable variation in the population. 3. Some of the variations within the population help the organism survive and/or reproduce. 4. Those organisms with the favorable variations survive pass the genes for those variations to the offspring.

Where do the variations come from? Variations can arise from genetic recombination (shuffling of genes/alleles during meiosis), mutation (new genes/alleles), and gene flow (movement of genes/alleles into/out of the population). The variations in the population, however, must be present prior to a selection pressure such as a change in the environment. Natural selection cannot produce a necessary variation, it only acts on those variations already present in the population.

This should help you choose the correct answer.