Natural Selection Misconceptions

We have probably all heard of natural selection but do we really know what it means? There are some statements that could lead people to misunderstand different scientific concepts or any concepts or issues in general.The term natural selection might seem like a simple term but it holds complexities within its two syllables and in order to have a clear understanding of it one must be able to differentiate between an individual and a whole species. As defined in the textbook, a species consist of a diverse population of individual while an individual is a single entity within the species. A person who is currently taking Anthropology 1 can identify at least three misconceptions and provide a thorough explanation to rectify these errors.

The

In order to clarify this statement, one can imagine this specific aspect as a tree. The tree will keep branching out and it will keep growing over time, some organisms will cease to exist, some will diversify, and some will not undergo change and stay stable as time is continuous (Linden 2016: lecture 2). For example, some humans think that we are the best species at this moment, but we are still not perfect. In terms of natural selection, perfection means being able to survive and adapt to any changes presented by the environment whether those changes are minimal or significant. We might consider ourselves the best organism right now because we are said to be the most complex species, but we are still not perfect and who knows what could happen to our species in the

Natural selection does not necessarily eliminate bad traits. Natural selection does not occur because an individual encounters a problem, but because there are genetic variations which are arbitrary and random. Besides, natural selection acts on individuals and not the population. Selection usually affects individuals’ behaviour and morphology that could help increase those individuals fecundity but as a side effect lower the average fecundity of the group, population, or species (Boyd and Silk, 10). In addition, as mentioned in class, natural selection does not appear just because an individual species needs it. Natural selection only works on variations that are already within the organism (Linden 2016: lecture 2). For example, infanticides in gorillas. The infanticide genes are passed on and this bad trait just kept getting passed on until the non infanticide species are gone or extinct and eventually these infanticides gorillas will eventually kill off its own kind. Also as the population of individuals with higher fecundity increase, their demand for resources also increases which could lead to the depletion of resources, therefore leading to the end of their existence. Take note that it is not the bad trait that caused the extinction, but it was the trait favored by natural selection which proves that natural selection is