3. any trait that confers even a small increase in the probability that its possessor will survive and reproduce will be strongly favored and will spread through the population.
Explanation:
- Natural selection is a nonrandom process by which biological traits become more or less common in a population as a function of the differential reproduction of their bearers of differences in the rate of survival.
- Natural selection can act on any heritable phenotypic trait and operate among any entities that reproduce, show inheritance of their characteristics from one generation to the next, and vary in fitness.
- Natural selection is the machine that drives evolution. It also explains adaptation.
"C. Organisms' characteristics are carried
<span> on DNA.</span>" would be the best fit, although this still isn't really the core idea behind natural selection, which is that animals survive based on how "fit" they are for their environment.
