What is the Difference Between Natural Selection and Adaptation?
🆚 Go to Comparative Table 🆚The difference between natural selection and adaptation lies in their definitions and roles in the evolutionary process:
- Natural Selection: It is a mechanism or cause of evolution, where organisms change over time as a result of changes in their heritable behavioral or physical traits. Natural selection occurs when individuals with favorable traits have a higher probability of surviving and reproducing in a specific environment. This process helps to accumulate adaptations in a population.
- Adaptation: Adaptations are physical or behavioral traits that make an organism better suited to its environment. They can be anatomical (changes to physical structures), physiological (changes in the function of these structures), or changes to behavior. Adaptations occur in living organisms and are a result of natural selection.
In summary, natural selection is a mechanism that drives the evolution of species, while adaptations are the physical or behavioral traits that result from natural selection. Adaptations help organisms survive and reproduce better in their specific environments, and they can be passed on to future generations through heredity.
On this pageWhat is the Difference Between Natural Selection and Adaptation? Comparative Table: Natural Selection vs Adaptation
Comparative Table: Natural Selection vs Adaptation
The table below outlines the differences between natural selection and adaptation:
| Feature | Natural Selection | Adaptation |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Natural selection is a mechanism that increases the probability of advantageous traits in the coming generations. | Adaptation is a characteristic that changes according to the environment. |
| Role | It is a process that operates through favoring individualities with profitable traits, thereby adding their chances of survival and reproductive success within a specific terrain. | It is a process or characteristic that enables an organism to successfully grow and reproduce in its environment. |
| Mechanisms | The process occurs naturally, and it is driven by the varied ways that different trait creatures survive and reproduce. | Can be acquired or inherited, and may involve body functions, behavior, or physical changes. |
| Timescale | It occurs over generations, usually taking several generations or more. | It can happen over several generations or throughout the course of an individual's lifetime. |
| Characteristics | It is a tendency where traits (which are beneficial) are passed on to the descendants, allowing them to have better chances of survival and reproduction. | It is a process in which living organisms adapt and change, sometimes leading to the formation of new species. |
In summary, natural selection is a mechanism that drives the evolution of species by favoring advantageous traits, while adaptation is a characteristic that allows organisms to adjust to changes in their environment.
Read more:
- Adaptation vs Evolution
- Natural Selection vs Evolution
- Natural Selection vs Artificial Selection
- Natural Selection vs Sexual Selection
- Natural Selection vs Genetic Drift
- Adoption vs Adaptation
- Acclimation vs Adaptation
- Adaptation vs Acclimatization
- Evolution vs Speciation
- Spatial Sorting vs Natural Selection
- Artificial Selection vs Genetic Engineering
- Evolution vs Creationism
- Adapt vs Adopt
- Evolution vs Creation
- Genetic Variation vs Environmental Variation
- Adaptive Radiation vs Divergent Evolution
- Lamarckism vs Darwinism
- Convergent vs Divergent Evolution
- Heredity vs Variation