What term describes differential reproductive success over multiple generations?

What term describes differential reproductive success over multiple generations?

• A. Natural selection
• B. Fitness
• C. Descent with modification
• D. Embryology

Answer: (A)

Natural selection captures how differential reproductive success accumulates across generations. Individuals with heritable traits that boost survival or mating success leave more offspring, so those advantageous traits become more common over time. This ongoing differential success drives adaptation in populations. Fitness is the measure of that reproductive success, not the process itself. Descent with modification describes the broader pattern of evolutionary change across generations, not the mechanism. Embryology is simply the study of development. So the term that best describes differential reproductive success over multiple generations is natural selection.

Natural selection captures how differential reproductive success accumulates across generations. Individuals with heritable traits that boost survival or mating success leave more offspring, so those advantageous traits become more common over time. This ongoing differential success drives adaptation in populations. Fitness is the measure of that reproductive success, not the process itself. Descent with modification describes the broader pattern of evolutionary change across generations, not the mechanism. Embryology is simply the study of development. So the term that best describes differential reproductive success over multiple generations is natural selection.