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Definition of Natural selection
1. Noun. A natural process resulting in the evolution of organisms best adapted to the environment.
Generic synonyms: Action, Activity, Natural Action, Natural Process
Definition of Natural selection
1. Noun. (context: evolutionary biology) A process by which heritable traits conferring survival and reproductive advantage to individuals, or related individuals, tend to be passed on to succeeding generations and become more frequent in a population, whereas other less favourable traits tend to become eliminated. ¹
2. Noun. (context: quantitative genetics) A process in which individual organisms or phenotypes that possess favourable traits are more likely to survive and reproduce: the differential survival and reproduction of phenotypes. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Medical Definition of Natural selection
1. The hypothesis that genotype environment interactions occurring at the phenotypic level lead to differential reproductive success of individuals and hence to modification of the gene pool of a population. This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology (11 Mar 2008)