Chapter Summary: The Origin Of Species

In Chapter 4 of The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin focuses on natural selection. He returns to the conversation of a breeder selecting distinctive traits of animals. Deviations that give a single species an advantage, no matter how slim, over other species, will allow that species a better chance of surviving and producing more descendants. While breeders can select variations that are beneficial for them, knowledgeable nature has the power to evolve and select variations that are subtle to humans and are benign to species in ways that people might never have considered. Nature can make any small asset can increase an organism’s likelihood of surviving over other species, and since these profitable alterations are genetic, they can be preserved in future offspring. The opposite is true in that nature can also limit species by not granting beneficial traits on them, therefore making the individual species less likely to live and increasing the risk of extinction.

For instance, a wolf that is leaner would most likely be able to run quicker, and therefore be able to get away from its predators. A bear might be born with the impulse to choose a more ample type of prey, which will be accessible than less ample types. In a convoluted case, a plant might possess a delicious nectar or vivid petals that appeal to more insects than other plants attract, which will disburse the plant’s pollen more regularly. Similarly, an insect could develop a smaller body, allowing it to retrieve food easily from a plant than other