Variation within the gene pool produces individuals that may survive a wider range or a different set of environmental conditions. The individuals better suited to survive under the new conditions leave more offspring that survive to carry the genes for surviving in the new conditions. Organisms that do not have traits that help them survive in the new conditions do not have as many offspring survive. As generations pass those whose inherited traits may have been suitable for earlier conditions but are not now make up less and less of the population. This is natural selection. The organisms best suited to new or changing conditions live to pass on those survival genes or beneficial adaptations. After reading the assigned reading in your textbook, you have an understanding of how environmental changes influence the natural selection process.



In your discussion post, find a real life example of one of the modes of natural selection and discuss how clutch size, habitat size, and/or genetic variance played a role in the survival or extinction of the species in your example. For example you could discuss the role of those modes of natural selection in the extinction of the dodo bird or the thriving of Asian carp in the Great Lakes.



You will use your text and other library sources to support your analyses. Please be sure to correctly cite any sources.