1. Natural Selection
Natural selection: organisms with favorable traits for a particular environment survive, reproduce, and pass these traits on to the next generation (those with less favorable traits are less likely to survive).

2. Adaptation- inherited trait that has become common in a population because the trait provides a selective advantage

3. 4 Rules of Natural Selection
All populations have genetic variation.

4. The environment presents challenges to successful reproduction.

5. Individuals tend to produce more offspring than the environment can support.

6. Individuals that are better fit their environment tend to live longer, reproduce more, and spread their genes throughout the population.

7. Evolution of a Species = Speciation
Species = group of organisms that look alike and have the ability to interbreed and produce fertile offspring in nature
Speciation occurs when
Interbreeding is prevented
Production of fertile offspring is prevented

8. Causes of Speciation
Isolation of populations - Two populations of the same species do not mate because of some form of separation
If populations can’t interbreed due to isolation, their allele frequencies can become more and more different from each other
Each population will adapt to its environment, eventually preventing breeding with members of other populations (reproductive isolation)