Artificial and natural selection are really the same process but one is driven by man and the other is driven by an organism's traits that allow them to survive and reproduce. Artificial selection is when mankind chooses certain traits in plants and animals and breeds to enhance that trait. Natural selection is also a process where traits are selected for, but that selection is based upon a trait that gives the organism a mating or survival advantage and this allows them to pass down the traits they possess.
Artifical Selection Doesn't Necessarily Make a Species More Fit for Survival
Since humans formed cultures based upon agricultural and the raising of animals for food, man has gradually understood that he could selectively breed organisms in order to enhance certain traits that were beneficial for man. However, such traits may not necessarily be beneficial for a species fitness in nature. An example of this would be in the current breeding of bulldogs.They are being selected by man to have large heads, which requires them to be born by cesarean section. This would obviously not be a trait selected for in nature, as it would decrease species fitness. Artificial selection actually can reduce the natural variation of
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If a giraffe with a slightly longer neck is able to reach food in high treetops when supplies are low, he or she will have a greater chance to survive and reproduce than one with a shorter neck.The shorter necked giraffes may die that season or not have the energy resources to produce offspring.Therefore, the trait of a longer neck may be passed on to the offspring and the gene pool of giraffe will gradually have more individuals with long necks. In order for natural selection to operate there must be a variation in traits in the