Cameron Tragesser

HONR 296
Dr. Stephen Gasior
January 29, 2015
Natural Selection and the Modern World
Natural Selection, in short, is the process by which, by our
current biological understanding, evolution occurs. Sometimes
referred to as Survival of the Fittest, Natural Selection involves the
passing on of traits that are beneficial to the survival of an organism.
In order for Natural Selection to be necessary, or to even occur at
all, there must be some sort of competition. Essentially, there will
never be a lack of competition, simply because of what is referred to as
carrying capacity. Simply, the Earth has limited resources and can
only support a certain degree of organisms. There are several different
sources of competition, also referred to as checks. First, is the limited
supply of resources, most obviously, food. With plants, especially,
though it is also important for animals, are spacial resources. In a
confined area, the most vigorous plants will overtake the weaker ones.
The weaker plants must, therefore, develop a way to disperse their
offspring to less populated areas, as seen in the mistletoe, or face
extinction.
The second major check is climate. This is easily observed, as
when you travel further and further north, certain plants and animals
become more and more sparse, and eventually disappear completely.
It is important to note that, in regards to climate, it is not necessarily a
question of whether or not a species can survive, but what specie can
survive best. For instance, we can observe certain types of plants that
are commonly kept in gardens and survive the climate without
problem; however, those plants do not spread their numbers into the
wild. This is because other indigenous plants are more vigorous in that
climate zone.
Though we discuss these external sources of competition,
competition is most fierce among organisms that are more closely
related. The competition between members of the same species will
be much stronger than those that are of completely different generas.
The reason for this is that, presumably, similar animals would have
similar habitats, structure, and necessities for survival. For instance,
Darwin describes how the increase of population of one subspecies of
swallow would lead to a decrease in population of another type of
swallow. In order for these populations to survive, they must either
adapt or migrate to a new area.
So how does this competition necessarily lead to the creation of
new species? As stated above, competition acts as the catalyst for
natural selection, which, in turn, leads to evolution. Darwin sums up

the process nicely in the third chapter On the Origin of Species; "
variations, however slight and from whatever cause proceeding, if they
be in any degree profitable to the individuals of a species...will tend to
the preservation of such individuals, and will generally be inherited by
the offspring. The offspring, also, will thus have a better chance of
surviving, for, of the many individuals of any species which are
periodically born, but a small number can survive (Darwin page 126).
Natural Selection is dependent on naturally occurring variations in
species. These variations, or individual differences, occasionally give
an organism a certain advantage over other organisms. Because of
this, the organism is more prone to being able to reproduce, and may
pass on the new trait to its offspring.
Darwin also describes a subset of natural selection, which he
calls Sexual Selection. This process is less based on survival, and
more based on the ability to find a mate and reproduce. In this
scenario, the weaker party does not die due to its traits, but simply
cannot as easily find a mate and, therefore, is less likely to pass on its
genes. This can be based on more violent and direct competition for
mates, such as spurring. Darwin states, A hornless stag or spurless
cock would have a poor chance of leaving numerous offspring (Darwin
page 173). It can also be based on a more indirect form of
competition: a reliance on pure sexual attraction. For instance, a
specific coloring may be more attractive to the opposite sex, and leads
to a reproduction of that same coloring in offspring.
In the modern era, some of the largest sources of competition
can be related indirectly or even directly to the advancement of
humankind. Whether it is due to depletion of natural resources or from
direct attempts to eradicate a species, humans have forced many
organisms to quickly adapt to living with humans, or face extinction.
One of those species is the common house mouse. Almost
universally considered a pest, humans often go to great lengths to
ensure that no mice are able to survive in their home or place of
business. However, some scientists have recently noticed a change. A
certain type of mouse in Germany has become almost completely
immune to warfarin, a poison that is typically used to kill the mice.
When examined closer, it was discovered that this common mouse
contained a strand of DNA that is found in the Algerian mouse, a
mouse that is naturally immune to warfarin. Because of crossbreeding,
some mice were lucky enough to inherit this gene and, therefore,
survive to pass it on. This type of evolution is called horizontal gene
transfer, and is typically only observed in microbes, making this
phenomenon that much more astounding.
Another example is the common bedbug. In recent years,
America has seen a spike in bedbug infestations, after about a halfcentury of few encounters with the insect. Due to the use of DDT,
bedbugs had become increasingly rare, however, it is believed that a

small population of offspring that were able to survive the toxin were
able to quietly pass on this trait to their offspring. This has led to a few
specific adaptations that have caused the bed bug to be much more
difficult to fight. For instance, it has been observed that modern
bedbugs have a thicker skin with an almost wax-like coating that is
able to repel chemicals. They also have a faster metabolism that
allows the bugs to, essentially, digest the poison before it has a chance
to affect its bodily functions.
An even stranger example comes out of Mexico. For centuries,
natives have traditionally performed a religious ceremony in the sulfur
caves of southern Mexico. In this ceremony, people poison the cavelakes with a naturally occurring toxin found in the barbasco plant. This
causes a mass death of the molly (a type of fish living in the caves).
However, the ceremony, never mind the fact that it is now officially
banned, has become less and less successful. The reason is that fewer
and fewer fish are dying as a result of the toxin. It was found that
some of the fish actually developed a resistance the toxin, and were
able to survive, passing on this ability to their offspring.

Works Cited
Borel, B. (2011, May 17). New Tougher Bedbugs Are Harder Than Ever
to Kill. Retrieved January 29, 2015, from
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-05/bedbugs-are-harderever-kill
Song, Y., Endepols, S., Klemann, N., Richter, D., Matuschka, F., Shih,
C., ... Kohn, M. (2011). Adaptive Introgression of Anticoagulant Rodent
Poison Resistance by Hybridization between Old World Mice. Current
Biology, 21(15), 1296-1301.
Tobler, M., Culumber, Z., Plath, M., Winemiller, K., & Rosenthal, G.
(2011). An indigenous religious ritual selects for resistance to a
toxicant in a livebearing fish. Biology Letters, 229-232. Retrieved
January 29, 2015.