Is evolution considered survival of the fittest?

Question

We see it in nature.
Is this a valid point?

Answer 1

That is a very valid point. I've actually thought about that myself. My take on it... Evolution is not always to the advantage of the species. However, "survival of the fittest" is what it says, the most apt of a species survive predators, disease, environmental occurances, etc.
Therefore, if "survival of the fittest" occurs, idealy, only the most avantageous characteristics will be passed on to the offspring. This in turn, will cause the offspring to pass their "good" genes on to their young, etc, etc.

I believe a lot of the human dysfunctions/disorders are caused by the lack of survival of the fittest in the modern world. Prescription lenses are nearly the norm, fertility drugs are readily available and modern medicine allows those who would not be able to survive and procreate.

Since I have hit the rambling part, let me hit my thesis. Evolution is a byproduct of survival of the fittest.

Answer 2

Evolution is a combination of concepts... Genetic Drift which can have profound and often bizarre effects on the evolutionary history of a population. These effects may be at odds with the survival of the population.

In a population bottleneck, where the population suddenly contracts to a small size (believed to have occurred in the history of human evolution), genetic drift can result in sudden and dramatic changes in allele frequency that occur independently of selection. In such instances, many beneficial adaptations may be eliminated even if population later grows large again.

Similarly, migrating populations may see founder's effect, where a few individuals with a rare allele in the originating generation can produce a population that has allele frequencies that seem to be at odds with natural selection. Founder's effects are sometimes held to be responsible for high frequencies of some genetic diseases.

Natural selection an example of natural selection in action is the development of antibiotic resistance in microorganisms. Antibiotics have been used to fight bacterial diseases. However, the widespread use and especially misuse of antibiotics has led to increased microbial resistance against antibiotics, to the point that the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has been described as a 'superbug' because of the threat it poses to health and its relative invulnerability to existing drugs.


Mutation -Morphological mutations usually affect the outward appearance of an individual. Mutations can change the height of a plant or change it from smooth to rough seeds, and biochemical mutations result in lesions stopping the enzymatic pathway. Often, morphological mutants are the direct result of a mutation due to the enzymatic pathway.



Survival of the fittest is a broad connotation.. .that the better suited you are to your surroundings the higher the likelyhood that you will survive to reproduce- and therefore it is likely that your offspring will ahve the same traits and they will be integrated into the larger populous... if it is a significant advantage then you perhaps your decendants will become the predominant creatures...

Answer 3

I think the point of evolution is that, through whatever genetic stimulation, survival of the fittest, mutation, limited gene pool, rapidly changing environment, that species change over time. It also makes the argument (and I believe it to be true), that there is no "perfect species", rather that life in general is prone to change when it is necessary, and sometimes environment throws those switches, and sometimes chance does. The best thing about evolution is that it allows for all different types of circumstances to bring life to where it is.

Answer 4

It's part of it.
But not the end of it. It's not just being fit, but fitting into the environment.
Look at the African Pygmies, they survive on a thimble full of water a day. Something that would kill you or I in the same environment.
Or the Inuit. They survive by eating nothing but meat. Again, something that would quickly sicken you or I and most likely kill us. Now interpose the two peoples' and their environment. No matter how many warm coats you give the Pygmies, they'll soon die. And conversly, how long do you think the Inuit would survive in the African plains?
But creationists still don't get it. Evolution begins with adaptation.

Answer 5

In it's simplest terms, yes. It is more correctly "survival to increase in breeding numbers when best adapted to an environment".

Over the course of thousands of generations a species can change very slowly, adapting to changes in nature. This has been seen in human history as we forced nature's hand so to speak. Prior to the middle ages, large breeds of horses such as modern draft horses did not exist - anywhere. We bred them by choosing large ponies to breed until after fifteen to twenty generations we created a new breed of animal - war horses.

Even our hunting has caused different species to change - modern African elephants that live long enough to grow to full size have smaller tusks than elephants two hundred years ago. We hunted and killed those with large tusks so the ones who survived had smaller tusks - they bred and were less likely to be hunted. Eventually we killed off the ones who had naturally large tusks and we started hunting anything with ivory.

We forced evolution of several animals to suit our needs and we still do it today. Nature just works on a MUCH longer time frame.

Answer 6

"Survival of the fittest" and mutation are what make Evolution happen. As minor mutations happen, the individuals with mutations that allow a better survival rate are able to pass these mutations on to the next generation....

This improves the whole population, by squeezing out the less-fit variations in the population. These less-fit variations eventually die, being less likely to pass on their genes.

Answer 7

I understand part of evolution to be nature selecting the best traits to be passed to the next generation.

from wikipedia....
is the process by which individual organisms with favorable traits are more likely to survive and reproduce. Natural selection works on the whole individual, but only the heritable component of a trait will be passed on to the offspring, with the result that favorable, heritable traits become more common in the next generation. Given enough time, this passive process can result in adaptations and speciation (see evolution).

Answer 8

Yes, it is. 'Survival of the fittest' is the most basic natural law there is. Those organisms that cannot adapt to thier enviroment or situation are pushed aside by better, more genetically advanced organisms who can. Eventually, perhaps humans will be pushed aside by a species as well.

Answer 9

Survival of the fittest contributes to evolution, as well as genetic mutations and natural selection.

Answer 10

Sometimes, but not always. It is just as true, if not more so, that the survival of various species depends of parasitism and symbiosis --interdependence in an intricate system of life.

This is a more updated view of evolution, sometimes known as co-evolution, which looks at how species evolve together or in cooperative systems.