theory of natural selection

According to the theory of natural selection,  organisms whose traits give them a greater chance of survival are more  likely to pass these traits to offspring than organisms whose traits are  not especially suited for survival.

When Charles Darwin took his 5-year voyage aboard the HMS Beagle  , he recorded his observations of nature. Among these records, Darwin  noted variations in beak shape and size among the finch populations  throughout the Galápagos Islands.

Scientists who studied these beak variations realized the differences  were not random, but instead related to the environment in which the  finches lived. They discovered that finches tended to have beak types  that made it easier for the birds to eat the foods growing in their  particular environments (Fowler, Roush, & Wise, 2013).

In what type of environment might finches with large, strong beaks  have a greater chance of survival than finches with small, pointed  beaks?

Why might the finches with the smaller, pointed beaks be more likely to survive in a different type of environment?

Like Darwin and other scientists, biologist John Endler was  interested in learning how environmental changes might influence the  expression of advantageous traits in particular populations. Endler  applied the principles of natural selection when he developed an  experiment to study changes in guppy populations. He placed guppies in  different environments and predicted how the fish populations would  change in order to survive in those environments.

For this week’s Assignment, you perform a virtual experiment based on  John Endler’s experiment. Like Endler, you hypothesize how guppy  populations will change to improve their chances of survival. You  complete and submit a lab report for this Assignment.