natural selection

noun

Definition of natural selection

: a natural process that results in the survival and reproductive success of individuals or groups best adjusted to their environment and that leads to the perpetuation of genetic qualities best suited to that particular environment

Examples of natural selection in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web But when a mutation offers some advantage, the process of natural selection will favor it. — Joel Achenbach, Anchorage Daily News, 2 May 2022 Henry is the patriarch, a believer in God and natural selection, a man dead set on convincing his daughter Henrietta that inbreeding is the best way to make a winning racehorse. — Courtney Maum, WSJ, 29 Apr. 2022 Humans have lived with dogs for 40,000 years — a relationship that through breeding and natural selection has shaped dogs to be people pleasers. — The Week Staff, The Week, 15 Aug. 2021 In the earliest stages of evolution, physical aesthetics were perfected by the process of natural selection as a means of communication. — Steff Yotka, Vogue, 12 Apr. 2022 Alternatively, the organisms may have evolved this scurrying gait independently through natural selection. — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 28 Dec. 2021 Living things evolve by accumulating genetic changes, which are then weeded out or preserved through a process of natural selection. — Karen Hopkin, Scientific American, 3 Mar. 2022 Never before has the scientific community seen so vividly the way natural selection lures new, behaviorally distinct strains from a vast viral pool. — Joel Achenbach, Washington Post, 24 Feb. 2022 Without diversification or genetic variety within species, natural selection threatens the survival of populations of organisms that may not have the traits necessary to adapt to environmental changes. — William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 3 Jan. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'natural selection.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

8 May 2022

Cite this Entry

“Natural selection.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/natural%20selection. Accessed 28 May. 2022.

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