What does natural selection primarily explain?

Natural selection primarily explains the survival and reproduction of individuals with advantageous traits. This biological process suggests that individuals possessing traits well-suited to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce, passing those beneficial traits to the next generation. As a result, over time, these advantageous traits become more common within the population, leading to evolutionary change.

This concept underlines the idea that certain traits confer an advantage in a given environment, which impacts reproductive success. For instance, if a particular coloration in an animal provides better camouflage from predators, those individuals are more likely to thrive and reproduce, thereby increasing the frequency of that coloration in subsequent generations.

While random genetic mutations play a role in generating variation within populations, natural selection acts upon these variations by favoring those that enhance survival and reproduction. Environmental factors do influence genetic variation and can create pressures that drive natural selection, but the mechanism mainly focuses on the differential success of individuals based on their traits. Extinction can result from various factors over time, including but not limited to natural selection, but it is not the primary function that natural selection seeks to explain.