What does natural selection imply about traits that increase reproductive success?

What does natural selection imply about traits that increase reproductive success?

• A. They become more common in the population over generations
• B. They disappear from the population over time
• C. They have no effect on allele frequencies
• D. They are randomly eliminated from the gene pool

Answer: (A)

Natural selection works when some traits help individuals reproduce more than others. If carrying a trait leads to more offspring, those alleles get passed on more often, so the trait becomes more common in the population over generations. This requires that the trait be heritable; if it isn’t, the increased reproductive success won’t necessarily change allele frequencies. The process is non-random—advantageous traits spread because they boost fitness, while traits that don’t help or that reduce fitness tend not to persist.

Natural selection works when some traits help individuals reproduce more than others. If carrying a trait leads to more offspring, those alleles get passed on more often, so the trait becomes more common in the population over generations. This requires that the trait be heritable; if it isn’t, the increased reproductive success won’t necessarily change allele frequencies. The process is non-random—advantageous traits spread because they boost fitness, while traits that don’t help or that reduce fitness tend not to persist.