Question

natural selection is the primary process responsible for adaptive evolution.
which phrase describes natural selection?
○ individuals with adaptive inherited traits are more likely to survive and produce offspring.
○ the environment causes new mutations once those mutations are necessary for survival.
○ individuals with particular phenotypes randomly survive and reproduce more than others.
○ random genetic mutations can change the phenotypes of individuals in a population.

Explanation:

Natural selection relies on heritable adaptive traits increasing an organism’s chance of survival and reproduction, which is the core of Darwinian evolution. The other options are incorrect: the environment does not cause targeted mutations, survival/reproduction in natural selection is non-random, and random mutations are a separate mechanism (genetic variation source) not the definition of natural selection.

Answer:

Individuals with adaptive inherited traits are more likely to survive and produce offspring.