What is the result of successful natural selection?

Natural selection is a fundamental mechanism of evolution that results in the gradual adaptation of organisms to their environments over time. The correct answer highlights that the outcome of successful natural selection is the evolution of organisms that are better suited to their specific environments. This process occurs because individuals with traits advantageous for survival and reproduction are more likely to pass those traits on to their offspring, leading to a gradual change in the inherited traits of a population.

For example, in a habitat where food is scarce, animals that can find food more efficiently or that can camouflage better from predators may survive longer and have more offspring. Over generations, these beneficial traits become more common in the population, illustrating how species evolve in response to environmental pressures.

In contrast, changes in environmental conditions alone do not directly indicate that natural selection has occurred; rather, it often spurs the process. The notion of "survival of the weakest traits" contradicts the principle of natural selection, which favors the survival of more advantageous traits. Finally, while stabilization of old species may occur, particularly in stable environments where specific traits are advantageous and do not change, it does not capture the dynamic process of evolution driven by natural selection focusing instead on the adaptation and improvement of species over time.